The Jedi's Tale
by Dolan1138
Summary: Follows the life story of a jedi a few hundred years before the fall of the old republic. It's better than it sounds but i'm rubbish at summeries. Reviews welcome but first ever fanfic so be nice :)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The universe belongs to George Lucas however the story and characters belong to me.**

I watch the sun rise above the Coruscant skyline as I sit on my sleeping mat in one of the jedi temple dorm rooms, knees drawn up to my chest, chin resting on them. I smile as the bright rays hit my face warming my body. I yawn and stretch wincing as my joints crack. The other younglings sharing my room start to wake and the place momentarily fills with grunts and groans as they force themselves to get up.

"Another sleepless night Kat?" Vaas Trykoon, a purple skinned Twi'lek, my best and only friend here at the temple, asks as he walks over to me, the usual cocky grin plastered on his face.

"Not quite, I did manage to get a couple of hours in earlier" I smile wearily shaking my head.

He sighs softly and flops down next to me

"I worry about you, you know Kat," Vaas says looking at me with concern in his eyes "Have you considered talking with master Maar about your insomnia?"

"I'm sure she has more important things to deal with than me." I say with a shrug "Besides, after a while you get used to it."

"All right, I won't push you about it. Just, be careful, okay?"

I laugh and give him a reassuring smile

"I promise, just relax, I'll be fine. You worry too much"

Vaas nods and climbs to his feet, holding out his hand to me.

"Come on, we'd better get a move on. We don't want to be late for class, we have combat training this morning and I want to get the best training saber"

I take the outstretched hand, amused by the enthusiasm of my friend, and get to my feet. I pull on my brown leather boots, smooth out my tunic, I always like to look presentable, and follow after Vaas who's already some distance away yelling at me to hurry and catch up.

I'm sorry I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. I should start at the beginning and explain a little bit about myself. My name is Katja, Katja Dilana, I'm a 12 year old jedi initiate and someday I'm gonna be a great jedi master and protect those in need, or at least that's the plan. I was born on Corellia, though I remember very little about it, and not much more about my family.

When I was very young, 2 I think, I lost my family and everything I held dear to gangsters. My brother, Randyll had gambling issues, major gambling issues. He was a big player of Pazaak and could often be found in one of the many gambling dens in the area.

One day he ended up sat at a table across from a man called Mako Novar, one of the most infamous crime lords on Corellia.

Now Randyll was a good player, supposedly one of the best in the system, certainly one of the best in coronet but that night he made one damning mistake. He gambled against a crook. He should have just gotten up and left the instant that Mako sat down but if anything Randyll was stubborn, he never backed down from a challenge and so the game went forward. Mako cheated and my brother lost, he lost big. By the end of the night he owed an excess of 200,000 credits.

Needless to say Randyll didn't have enough when it came time to cough up. Mako was less than pleased. I never quite knew what happened to Randyll after that, no one ever saw or heard from him. It's likely that Mako killed him on the spot, or more probably sent him to work in the spice mines of Kessel to earn him back some of the money owed. He sent his thugs to our house to collect the rest. They came in the night we were caught unaware. My father refused to go quietly however and fought like a man possessed to protect his family.

He managed to defeat several of the men but the sheer numbers ultimately overwhelmed him, the relentless barrage of blaster fire cut him down. He was dead before he hit the floor. I may not remember much about that night but the one thing will be etched into my mind for as long as I live is the smell of scorched flesh as the bolts tore through his body.

My elder sister, when she tried to run, was beaten senseless and taken away, whilst my mother was dragged clutching a screaming baby - me – to her chest.

We were taken to Mako's luxury mansion on the outskirts of Coronet, as we were lead through the streets we passed friends and neighbours, people we'd known all our lives. They all ignored us, turned their backs on us, few offered us the dignity of looking us in the eye. It's amazing really just how fickle people can be.

As we were dragged before him, Mako glared haughtily down at us, bound and beaten. He stalked towards us, circling our pitiful trio like a hungry Gundark. His cold calculating eyes studied each one in turn, as quite an audience gathered round, faces eager to watch the impending violence.

When he came to my sister, Mako reached out and stroked her cheek softly. She flinched away from his touch and spat in his face.

"Very pretty." he leered wiping himself clean, before striking her across the face viciously. "Sell her to the slavers. I'm sure it'll fetch a very fine price" he commanded laughing as she was dragged away screaming and kicking. As another member of my family was taken away my mum started weeping and begging for mercy. She soon fell silent as the cruel crime lord advanced on his final victims.

My mother whimpered softly as he approached but held her head up high, keeping her composure as best she could. Though I'm sure she must have been terrified my mother remained both brave and defiant, most likely for my benefit I would imagine.

Mako stepped behind her, leaning down to her ear and whispers something softly. I've never found out what he whispered to her on that day, but whatever it was it caused a sudden change. Her eyes widened and she turned to try and escape, but Mako was too fast. Quicker than lightning he placed one side on either side of her head and twisted cruelly, snapping her neck like a twig.

Her lifeless body fell to the floor like a rag doll. Her eyes, no longer full of life stared blankly at the poor helpless, innocent, child that was me. Left alone to face the evil machinations of that cruel tyrant.

Glancing at my prone figure with disdain he upholstered his blaster and pointed it at me, preparing to fire and forever blast me off the face of the universe.

Now, as I am relating to you this story, my tale clearly did not end at that point. At the last second a deep booming voice rang out across the room.

"WAIT!" It bellowed, stopping Mako before he pulled the trigger. Mako lowered his gun and looked around impatiently.

"Who the frack is brave, or stupid enough to interrupt me, and why are you doing so. This had better be important. I don't like having my fun disturbed." He growled softly.

A large Whipid pushed his way to the front of the gathered crowd urgently. His large frame covered by little else but rags, his fur matted and filthy. He knelt before Mako his head bowed low to the ground.

"My lord, I am but one of your humble servants. My name is Taarbuck and I beg of you to spare this child's life. Please do not kill her."

Mako stared at the Whipid thoughtfully, tapping his blaster against his forehead as he considered the proposal.

"Now tell me," he asked in a slow drawl "my worthless piece of scum slave. Why should I listen to you? Why should I not just kill you now for insubordination?" his manner and voice were friendly, almost conversational but his eyes conveyed a slow burning anger.

"Master, forgive me I meant no offense but if you kill this child then you could potentially be losing out on a valuable slave. When she is old enough she can work for you."

"And till then, she'll just be another mouth to feed. She'll cost me money in supplies and food. I have plenty of slaves it would be simpler mjust to kill her." Mako replies cooly.

"She can have my food, and my living quarters. Until she's able to earn her living she wouldn't cost you a single credit. Please I beg of you, she is only an innocent, let her live"

Not a single being moved in the crowded audience chamber, as they watched with bated breath, waiting for Mako to make his decision.

"Very well" he said at last "you may keep it."

Taarbuck breathed out a sigh of relief and bent to pick me up, but was interrupted by Mako.

"But," he said with a sly grin "I'm afraid your insolence must be punished. I can't very well have people thinking I'm a pushover now can I?"

Taarbuck nodded in consent "What is required of me, my lord?"

"Hold out your hand" mako commanded

The large whipid stood to his full 2.5 meters, gathered his courage and held out a steady hand, waiting for whatever cost was deemed necessary. With lightning speed, Mako drew his vibroblade and with one swift cut, sliced off one of Taarbuck's fingers.

Taarbuck roared in pain and cradled his injured hand, as Mako cleaned his blade of blood.

"I grow weary of this whole ordeal" Mako sighed and nudged my mother's corpse with his foot "clean that up, feed it to the slice hounds if you must, then all of you get out of my sight. I wish to be alone"

Of course, as I was barely more than a baby at that time, in reality I remember very little of those events. I pieced together what happened from stories I was told by other slaves in the mansion. Though I often asked him, Taarbuck told me little of it himself. The one thing he did tell me however was that, when he picked me up instead of crying like any normal child should when presented with the looming, tusked face of a whipid, I just grasped his finger, and smiled at him. From there, he was hooked.

**A/N: there you are the first chapter of my first fanfic, i hope you enjoyed. I have plans for this story to be long term but at the moment i'm taking it one chapter at a time. not sure when i'll have the next chapter released by but it will be asap.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The universe and some charaters belong to George Lucas, but the characters and story belongs to me**

The next few years for me where fairly uneventful, well that's if you don't count being a slave. Taarbuck kept me in his room, hidden away from everyone else. It all I knew in those early years. The same four grey walls, a small bed and not much else, except for the ever comforting warmth of Taarbuck.

Whenever he wasn't busy working, Taarbuck spent his time teaching me. He told me about his home planet Toola, the wide open tundra where his tribe used to roam, and his family. Taarbuck got quiet when he talked about his family, and got a faraway look in his eye. While whipids are solitary creatures by nature, he always spoke fondly about his wife and their young. He never told me what happened to them, or where they are now, he just regaled me with tales of great hunts, cruel winters and fearsome warriors. It was all very fascinating.

When I was left alone during the day, I used to pretend we'd escape to Toola together, far away from this place, and hunt the great beasts of the icy plains. Just the two of us, together forever.

Taarbuck also taught me the whipid language. Though I could speak it, in all honesty I just sounded foolish, so I usually just stuck to galactic basic.

Unfortunately this peace and relative happiness could not last; when I was old enough, Taarbuck told me that I was expected to begin work in the mansion, more specifically the kitchens. And so it transpired that I ended up scrubbing dirty dishes, cleaning the floors, and generally doing whatever Ran Jax, Mako's head chef told me to do.

It was through this work that I met Vaas. I'd only been working for a few months when it happened.

Mako had just thrown a big party, inviting some of the most influential people in coronet. Lots of government officials that Mako had in his pocket. It was an important night for him; he had to keep the right people sweet, the rest scared. As a result Ran was feeling quite flustered, and he was taking it out on us. I was subject to a few clips round the ear before the night was done.

By the end there was a lot of cleaning up to do, and as the newest one there, it was up to me to do it. As the night wore on I was left alone to finish up as everyone else went to bed. I worked quickly but meticulously, knowing I'd be up for a severe beating if my work wasn't up to scratch.

I had finally finished and was just getting ready to head to bed when I heard a clatter coming from the larder of the kitchen.

"Who's there?" I called instantly alert, muscles tensed and fists bunched ready to defend myself if need be. I edged nervously towards the source of the disturbance, terrified and desperate to turn away, yet my curiosity wouldn't allow it. Reaching the larder I saw that the door was slightly ajar, a thin sliver of light shone from the gap.

I could feel the adrenaline surging through my veins; my hands trembled with both nerves and excitement as I reached out to open the door.

Gathering all my courage I threw the door open and came face to face with a twi'lek boy. He was only young, not much older than me and had bright purple skin. We stared at each other for what felt like an age, not daring to move. Suddenly the boy grinned and stuck out a hand.

"Hey!" He greeted me brightly

"Hi…" I replied hesitantly, looking at the outstretched hand with caution. I'd learnt to be weary of offered friendship round here. Most of the people I'd met so far were just looking out for themselves, only showed you kindness if they got something in return.

"You shake it" he said, laughing at my discomfort. "I promise I won't bite"

"Sorry," I murmured shaking his hand "I guess I'm just not used to people in this place actually being nice"

"I know what you mean," he nodded in understanding "but you don't need to worry about that from me, us kids need to stick together. The name's Vaas by the way. Vaas Trykoon. Who're you?"

"My name is Katja Dilana"

"Nice to meet ya Kat. You're new here aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?" I reply with a slight smile. I wasn't completely sure I trusted him yet, but this strange boy had amused me.

"Well, I've never seen you round here before, and I've gotten to know damn near everyone else in this place." He smirked smugly

"Well I've been here a bit longer than you might think. You are right in that I've only been working in the kitchen for a couple of months, but I've been in the mansion for a few years at least, though I'm not sure exactly how long."

He looked at me oddly, and scratched his head in confusion.

"Are you sure? You can't be much older than about six or seven." He murmured half to himself. He puzzled over it for a few second before looking at me sharply. "How old are you exactly? When is your Birthday?"

I shrugged my shoulders and suddenly became very interested in my feet.

"I really should be going. I need to go to bed, I'm tired." I mumbled turning to leave.

"No wait, stop!" he grabbed my arm "what's the matter with you?" I sighed and turned back to Vaas. He eyed me with what could have been concern, or maybe suspicion, I wasn't sure. Either way I could tell that he wasn't going to let it drop.

"I'm not quite sure." I said, my voice barely more than a whisper "anyone who knew are long gone now" And so I told him my story, or what I knew at least. After a while I felt the tears start rolling down my cheeks. I wanted to stop but knew I couldn't, I'd started and now I had to finish. By the end I was sobbing freely. It was the first time I'd told anyone about my past and I hadn't realised just how much I'd been holding it in. As much as I loved Taarbuck he wasn't great for deep and meaningful talks.

At some point Vaas had drawn me into a soft embrace whilst I bared my soul to him. When I'd finished he didn't say anything at first, he just held me. It was rare for me to be so close to a person and I found his presence to be very comforting. Eventually the tears stopped and I looked up at him, wiping my eyes on my sleeve.

"I'm terribly sorry; I must look a right state."

"Nonsense," he replied brushing a lock of hair from my face "you look great!" I grinned like a fool and let out a giggle.

"I'll tell you what," he continued "you say you don't know what date your birthday is? Then how about we have today as your birthday? That why we'll always remember"

"Why's that?" I asked confused

"Well I'm not gonna easily forget the day I met you. If you ever do forget, you can just ask me. Okay?"

I nodded and smiled at him. "Wait a minute, does that mean you want to be friends?" I had never had a friend before, and whilst I knew hope was a dangerous thing I couldn't help myself.

"Of course I do. We'll be together forever."

"Promise?"

"I promise" he replied.

Vaas told me a bit about where he came from. Though he was a Twi'lek he wasn't born on Ryloth, their home world, nor had he ever seen it. His father had been killed before he was born by pirates, and his pregnant mother ended up stranded on the smuggler's moon of Nar Shaddaa, where she gave birth to Vaas. His mum took up dancing in one of the many bars on the moon, whilst Vaas took to pick-pocketing many of the patrons. They had little money, and the life was less than glamorous but they got by.

That all came to an end though when the owner of the bar angered one of the local crime lords. Vass wasn't entirely sure what happened but whatever the reason, it was enough for the crime lord to come looking for revenge. He took Vaas and his mother as captives. Vaas isn't sure what happened to his mother but he was sold into slavery. Ownership of him changed hands several times over the years, and he ended up working on many worlds throughout the galaxy. He even had a brief stint working for the infamous Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, but about year ago he was lost to Mako in a game of Pazaak and had been there ever since.

We stayed up talking for most of the night, about life in the mansion, dreams for the future and basically just finding out more about each other. Vaas did most of the talking really but I didn't mind. Honestly, I think I could have stayed there for the rest of my life just listening to him. He could make anything sound interesting; he had such enthusiasm for life. It was infectious and I felt optimistic about the future for the first time since… well the first time since ever.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 2, thank you to all who've read it :) i'll get the next chapter out as soon as i can.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: As always, the characters and story are mine, the universe is not.**

At first nothing happened. The pebble just lay there, unmoving. I grew impatient and stood, brushing the dust and dirt from my pants. I stretched and looked around the courtyard where we were sitting.

It had been by my reckoning just under a standard year since I met Vaas in the kitchen and since then we'd been nigh on inseparable. Pretty much any moment we were not working or sleeping we spent time together. Taarbuck disapproved of our friendship and was often trying to dissuade me from talking to him. I ignored his worries and waved away his concerns as a parent's paranoia.

Life was still no picnic, I was still a slave after all but Vaas and I got by all right. We had fun playing pranks on the mansion's staff. Only harmless little things but they kept us going. And we often spoke of our dreams; we agreed together that one day we would escape from this hellhole never to look back. I knew they were only that though, 'dreams' and never gave them much thought. That was before the day with the pebble however. I was working in the kitchen as usual when Vaas appeared and dragged me out into the courtyard.

"This is stupid Vaas!" I sighed with irritation. "Whatever you're trying to do it's not working. Just give up!"

"I've almost got it. Just give me a minute" he said, staring intently at the pebble.

"Got what? We've been here for almost an hour and absolutely nothing has happened!"

"There! Look!" Vaas grinned triumphantly.

I looked at the pebble and my jaw dropped. I could scarcely believe my eyes as slowly but surely the pebble rose. It hung there suspended in mid-air for not much more than a second, before it dropped back to the ground.

Vaas slumped forward breathing heavily. I rushed to his side, concerned and knelt down next to him.

"Vaas, are you okay?" I touched him on the shoulder gently. He jumped slightly at my touch before he nodded and smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Doing that just takes it out of me a bit." he replied and climbed shakily to his feet. I took his arm, half carrying him as he walked.

"You should rest," I chided him softly "you look exhausted" He smiled cockily and pushed me away gently.

"You mollycoddle me too much" he growled, forcing himself to stand up straight and unsupported, embarrassed that he needed help

"_Foolish male arrogance" _I thought to myself exasperatedly "_It'll get you in trouble one day Vaas"_ But I knew there was no arguing with him so I let him struggle on.

"That was incredible, how did you do that?" I grinned at him. I had thousands of questions about what I'd just seen but that was the one I'd decided to ask. He tried shrugging the question off, but I wouldn't let up. Eventually he relented and told me.

"It first happened about 3 months back. I was walking down a corridor in one of the lower levels when I was confronted by one of the guards. I don't remember his name, but he was a great hulking brute of a human. I had never spoken to him before but I had seen him around the mansion. He was a bully and a xenophobe.

Anyway on that night, he had been drinking, heavily by the smell of it. I could smell the liquor heavy on his breath as he shoved against me. The force of the blow drove the wind out of my lungs and I angrily told him to watch where he was going.

He laughed and shoved me again. He was much bigger and stronger than me and I knew I wouldn't stand a chance against him if it came to a fight, so I tried to just walk away and ignore him. He was having none of it, grabbed me by my shirt so I couldn't escape. As I struggled to get away he laughed and started to slap me around. Gently at first but then he started to hit harder.

I started to get angry, told him to let me go. All he did was spit at my face…" He broke off then and looked away; I could see the pain in his eyes. I leant over and took his hand, squeezing it gently.

"You don't have to talk about it of you don't want," I say softly smiling at him "but I promise whatever happened I won't judge you."

"You might have changed your mind by the time I'm done." he laughed mirthlessly but carried on regardless though his voice was cold and emotionless "When he spat on me I just lost control. I could feel an overwhelming fury flowing through me, it crashed upon me in waves, and I channelled it. I channelled it through my body and into… him. I thrust out my arms and he flew away from me. Slammed into the wall and I heard a definite crack.

He looked up at me with wide fearful eyes. I think he was trying to beg for mercy. I guess I'll never truly know, all the anger and hate still had to go somewhere. It stemmed from me and streamed into the man. By the time I was done there was little more than a smear left of him." By this point Vaas' eyes were glistening with tears, he was barely containing them. "I-I didn't mean to kill him, I didn't even want to hurt him. I just wanted to be left alone. Thankfully, when they found his 'remains' I was not a suspect; after all I'm just a child.

At first I was terrified of what I did, but eventually I realised that, just because what I did was wrong didn't mean that I couldn't use this 'power' for good. So I spent all my time practising, trying to recreate the power, but without the emotions. It takes almost all my energy and concentration but I think I'm finally starting to gain some control over it." He stopped and looked at me realising that he was starting to babble. "Sorry, I hope you don't hate me now."

I smile and patted him on the back gently "It's okay, I don't hate you. But this power sounds dangerous; you have to be careful Vaas. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You don't have to worry Kat." Once he knew that I was still going to talk to him he seemed a lot calmer. "It was scary at first I'll admit, but don't you see? If I can control this power, if I can learn how to use it then we can finally escape from this place."

His face was full of hope but I still wasn't convinced. "I don't know…"

"Think of it this way," he interrupted "a blaster isn't evil is it? Nor is it good. Only the person who wields it is. I believe that this… power, whatever it is, is the same."

I bit my lip and considered his proposal for some time. "Okay, I guess you have a point." I conceded at last. He started to celebrate his victory but I stopped him.

"However, I do have one or two slight conditions. First of all, we have to be very careful with this thing Vaas. We have no idea what we're really getting in to. Secondly I want you to try and teach me how to do it."

"Fine, I'll teach you, though I can't promise that it's even possible. I don't think just anyone can do these kind of things."

"And one more thing," he added "it must stay a secret, I'm sure you understand why. You can't tell anyone about this Kat, not even Taarbuck."

I started to object but he cut me off. "I mean it. We have no idea how he'd react to it, and we can't risk him trying to stop us."

I wanted to argue but I knew it'd do no good, so I agreed to do as he asked. I wasn't happy about hiding something from Taarbuck but I had little choice in the matter.

We began practising immediately. Over the next months we devoted almost all our spare time working to develop this 'power'. It was difficult at first; I had no clue what I was doing and often ending up throwing things in frustration when my early efforts ended in futility. However if anything I'm stubborn. After about a month of endless hours of effort, and patient tutelage from Vaas, I had a breakthrough.

It was nothing major, I had barely managed to make a pebble shake but it was at least something. From that point on though, I made slow but steady progress and soon caught up to Vaas, he may have had the advantage of time but as it turned out I had a natural skill for it.

As well as our continual practising, working to hone what meagre skills we had, Vaas and I started to prepare for our eventual planned escape. As I worked in the kitchens I stole and hid away any food I could find that wasn't going to go bad. Vaas meanwhile made use of his quick and nimble fingers. He pickpocketed Mako's guests as they slept off the all night parties that were held regularly at the mansion. It was a risk, one I repeatedly told him he shouldn't have taken, but he never listened and over the months he started to build up a stockpile of credits.

Despite all our preparation, neither of us was remotely prepared for what was going to happened next. We didn't know it at the time but our lives were about to change drastically, and all our carefully laid plans would be thrown into turmoil.

My world changed the day the jedi arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Usual discalaimers apply**

**Quite a long chapter but i also think it's one of my best. I hope you enjoy.**

I could feel their presence before I even saw them. I had awoken just before dawn, and was training in a small alcove near the mansion entrance when they arrived. I had chosen that place in the hopes of being able to work without being disturbed, but once they showed up I had little hope of that.

Though I had little understanding of the Force at that time, I could feel it pulling me. Intrigued by this sensation I followed it. It led me to the mansion's entrance corridor just as they passed through it. There were two of them, both dressed in simple brown robes. Their hoods were lowered so I was able to see their faces.

The older of them was a human woman approximately fifty standard years of age. Her hair was long and black with grey streaks. Her olive coloured skin was worn and lined heavily with age, but the bright green eyes it framed were still full of awareness, never missing a thing. Despite her age she walked quickly with long strides forcing the other person to scurry after her.

It was the other being who really caught my attention. Another human, yet this one were male and only young. He couldn't have been older than nineteen by my reckoning. His face was clean shaven and shone with the vibrancy of youth. His hair was cut short except for a braid behind his left ear.

As I laid my eyes upon him, hidden from sight behind a pillar, I felt something run through me like a jolt of electricity. I cried out softly as my head was filled with visions. A fierce space battle over a dying planet. A lone figure collapsing in a sun-scorched desert, and a weapon capable of causing immense devastation. These images flashed through my head, accompanied by feelings of joy, love, terror and loss. It only took a moment but lasted an eternity.

He glanced my way and our eyes met. He had dark brown eyes, and as they looked upon me they became sorrowful and filled with... was that regret? I have never found out what was behind that gaze, and I guess I never will but I knew that this man, whoever he was, would have a huge impact on my life.

He looked at me for barely a second before hurrying after the woman, who was already several strides ahead. I don't know why, but I knew that I had no choice but to follow them. It's a cliché I know but it was my destiny.

Knowing that it would have meant my hide if I was seen where I wasn't supposed to be, I stuck to the shadows as I crept after the two figures. I was surprised to see that they managed to make it all the way to Mako's main audience chamber without being stopped by his guards. They were approached by a vicious-looking pair of Weequay guards at one point but the woman whispered some words I couldn't hear, waved her hand and incredibly they turned and walked away.

The walked into the room with me trailing at some distance behind, trying to avoid being noticed. I didn't have to try very hard. At that time of day, there were few left in the room, and even fewer awake. In any case, most of their attention was fixed firmly on the two new guests, standing proudly in the centre of the room. No one bothered to pay any attention to the small pathetic slave girl hiding meekly in a corner.

Mako's second in command, Kimala Triz, a cruel, sadistic Zabrak went to meet them.

"Who are you? And how did you get in here?" she asked, her voice filled with suspicion.

"My name is Luna Rosa, and this my padawan Falcon Fox. We are here to see Mako Novar" the elderly woman replied. Her voice was strong and confident, with hidden depths of wisdom.

"Not just anyone gets to see the boss," Kimala sneered, her arms folded. "any dealings you have can go through me."

"I'm afraid that won't do. We must speak to Mako directly, and only to Mako." Luna responded coolly.

Kimala scoffed and shook her head in disgust. "You have no right to tell me what to do in this mansion, wench"

Falcon stepped forward a scowl on his face, his fist clenched but Luna took hold of his arm gently, holding him back.

"Calm yourself Falcon, calm. Remember anger is the path to the dark side, you must learn to control your feelings, not the other way around."

The young man took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them he smiled at Luna and nodded "Thank you master. I almost lost control."

"That's quite alright padawan" she smiled at him before turning back to Kimala "I'm sorry, where were we?"

"You were just leaving." Kimala said. If her tone didn't express enough menace, the hand that rested on the blaster at her side certainly did. "Leave. Now."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A soft voice intoned from behind her, startling everyone but Luna. "You may be one of the greatest combatants on Corellia my dear but I wouldn't advise you to test your skills against a Jedi. I would really find it most troublesome cleaning you off the walls"

Mako walked past Kimala and held out a hand to Luna. "I'm afraid I must apologise for my associate here. She does have quite a temper on her. It comes in use from time to time I have to admit, but one day it really is going to get her into trouble. I am Mako, Mako Novar. How can I help you? " He flashed a grin but his eyes were cold and hard.

"Nice to meet you Mr Novar," Luna smiled politely but ignored the outstretched hand "we are here on the behalf of the Jedi Order to discuss your… business. Do you have somewhere private where we can talk?"

"We can talk right here. Anything you have to say should be heard by everyone here, I have nothing to hide from them."

"Very well," Luna said "I wished to save you the embarrassment of doing this in front of your 'associates' but if you insist then I guess we have no choice."

"Just get on with it, I don't have all day." Mako growled softly.

"It has come to our attention that you have been running a drug smuggling operation out the mining facility on Kessel. Unlicensed distribution of glitterstim is illegal Mr Navo, you know that. We also have reports of gun running, slavery and just about every other form of organised crime known to the galaxy."

"Those are some pretty wild accusations Master Rosa; I do hope you have some proof to back up those claims."

"Don't think you can worm your way out of this one by talking about proof. You have long been one of the galaxy's most notorious crime lords. It's about time someone put a stop to you" Falcon said, his voice filled with scorn.

"Ok, you caught me." Mako replied calmly, holding up his hands. "But tell me something Jedi. As you correctly said I have been in the business for a long time, twenty years in fact, yet this is the first time any of your pitiful little order has come knocking on my door to try and do anything about it. Why is that I wonder."

An uneasy silence filled the air as Mako's question was left unanswered. But not for long, he answered his own question.

"I'll tell you why. Until now my business dealings have mainly been restricted to the Mid Rim worlds, Malastare, Ord Mantell and the like. To you Jedi these are small, insignificant, backwater planets, barely worth your time.

But recently I decided to expand my operations into the Core. I have recently opened at small establishment on Coruscant that catered to the slightly more, for lack of a better word, obscure desires of the denizens of the galaxy. And here you come running. The Jedi are weak, your influence is limited to the worlds that you deem to be worthy of your attention.

I do not fear your pathetic order, or your attempts to stop me. It is well known that you Jedi are a bunch of pacifists who would much rather ignore a problem as long as it doesn't affect you.

You have the gall to come into my home and offend me in front of my guests! You think you can just waltz in here! YOU DARE TO THREATEN ME!" he roared.

I had been watching the events unfold in the hall as Mako got increasingly angry. By this point his face was livid with rage; skin flushed, eyes bulging and spittle flying from his lips. And all through this the two Jedi stood there calmly, patiently waiting for him to stop.

Kimala took a hesitant step towards Mako and placed a wary hand on his shoulder.

"Sir?" She asked carefully

Mako took a moment to calm himself when he realised that every eye in the room was fixed intently on him. Well, nearly every eye, my two were studying these mysterious Jedi with interest. I had many questions about them. I decided to ask Taarbuck about them later.

"Mr Novar," Luna said ignoring his rant "by order of the Jedi Council you are under arrest. Please come with us peacefully and we can avoid any unfortunate incidents."

"Please?" Mako laughed "I like that. But you underestimate me. I have no intention of going anywhere with you. I advise that you get out of my sight immediately before I am forced to get violent. I would hate to dirty the floors; they were only cleaned this morning." He signalled to Kimala who spoke into a commlink.

The room was suddenly filled with heavily armed, mean looking guards. I did a quick headcount. Eighteen! I made my way to the nearest exit, ready to make a hasty escape if things got dangerous. Luna on the other hand did not seem remotely concerned by these developments.

"Just because we choose not to, does not mean that we cannot fight. This is your final warning Mako, surrender now or all the hired mercenaries in the galaxy won't be able to save you."

"Your threats would be a lot more credible if you weren't vastly outnumbered. Kimala, I grow weary of this now. Deal with them please."

"Gladly." Kimala grinned; she drew a vibroblade and advanced on the two Jedi.

"Stay back padawan, I'll deal with this one." Luna said stepping forward. My eyes grew wide and I gasped in shock as a beam of yellow light sprang from a small metal cylinder in her hand. Several others in the room also reacted in a similar way, and several of the guards surrounding the Jedi backed away.

Kimala alone did not react, except to smirk arrogantly. "Yes, yes, it's a very impressive weapon you have there, Jedi. But I have seen and fought against a lightsaber before. You'd best have some skill with it if you don't want to join the other jedi I've fought."

They took up fighting stances opposite each other and a hush fell over the room. The battle couldn't have lasted long than a few minutes, but to me it seemed as if they were moving in slow motion. I can still remember every moment of that battle as if it were playing out right in front of my eyes.

At first they circled each other, studying their opponent intently, looking for any signs of weakness. Kimala made the first move, an overhead slash, swinging down to cleave Luna's head in two.

The lightsaber came up and swiftly parried the attack. Sparks flew and Luna backed away, much lighter on her feet than I would have expected from someone of her age.

"Your attack had strength girl, but you're going to have to get serious if you want to have any hope of challenging me. Try again." Luna mocked with a smile.

Kimala growled in frustration and flew again at Luna, her vibroblade swinging furiously. Blow after blow came raining down onto the elderly jedi, yet they were all parried or dodged with ease.

Kimala broke off her attack and retreated. She was breathing heavily whilst Luna seemed as serene as ever. The only sound to be heard was the humming of her lightsaber.

It was then that Luna chose to make her counter attack. Advancing quickly upon the Zabrak she swung the lightsaber, a sideswipe aiming for Kimala's right arm. Seconds before the blade struck it was deflected by the vibroblade. The blow went wide and only grazed her arm. She hissed in pain and staggered away, falling to one knee in the process.

She looked up at the advancing jedi, her eyes filled with both rage and fear. The lightsaber blade was pointed straight at her exposed throat.

"Yield." She commanded.

Though she looked like she would quite gladly tear her limb from limb, Kimala saw sense and let the vibroblade drop to the floor with a clang. She lowered her head a whispered in a voice barely audible.

"I yield."

Luna deactivated her lightsaber and kicked the vibroblade away.

"You fought well, but you are both too inexperienced and filled with hate to have ever hoped to defeat me." She turned back to face Mako and looked at him sternly "This is your last chance Mako. Surrender or be destroyed."

Luna must have completely disregarded Kimala as an opponent or else she would have seen her reaching into her boot and drawing out a small vibroknife.

"LOOK OUT!" I screamed as Kimala flung the vibroknife at Luna. Confused she turned round just as the blade sunk itself into her chest. She looked down at the hilt protruding from her body before her legs gave way beneath her.

Falcon raced to her and caught her before she hit the floor.

"I'm sorry padawan," she whispered "it seems that I must leave you now. Be strong young one. Whilst we all walk different paths in life, all beings inevitably find their way to the final unknowable destination that is death." She smiled up at him and stroked his cheek tenderly. She coughed, crimson blood spewing forth from her lips, bright against the brown robes. She looked ready to say more but a spasm of pain crossed her face before she could and her head lolled to one side. Even from a distance I knew that she was dead.

Kimala laughed and stood "Poor, poor jedi, I feel for you I really do, but we gave your master fair warning. It's not my fault she's too stupid to listen to sense."

Falcon laid his master onto the ground gently and turned to face Kimala. His eyes were dry but his face was grim and cold.

"Don't you dare to speak ill of her," he warned, his voice barely more than a whisper "or you'll regret it."

"Oh really? You think you'll fare better than that withered crone? That's something I would love to see"

That was more than he could take and with a roar of fury he flew at the zabrak, igniting his lightsaber as he went. He was by her side faster than the eye could follow, Kimala didn't even have time to react before a line of blue light entered her neck. The blade sliced through tendons and skin as easily as a hot knife cuts through snow. Kimala's eyes widened and her lips parted slightly in shock as the head was parted from her body. It hit the ground with a thud as the smell of singed flesh reached my nostrils from the cauterised stump where the horned head once rested. Falcon stared blankly at the corpse, his face devoid of any emotion.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Mako hissed yet his voice betrayed the fear he felt. "Kill him!" He commanded his guards before beating a hasty retreat into the depths of the mansion.

That seemed to shake Falcon out of his daze and he fell into a defensive stance as the eighteen guards surrounded the lone jedi, their blaster rifles drawn, all pointing directly at his head. The lightsaber dropped by his fallen companion flew into his hand and he ignited it crossing the two blades in front of him. I felt ill but couldn't look away, fascinated by the macabre scene playing out in front of me.

I could see no way out for the young jedi padawan, but I was soon to learn one should not underestimate a cornered opponent, especially when that opponent is a Jedi. He tensed his legs and sprung into the air, just as the blasters opened fire, tearing through the space where he was stood not a second earlier. Several of the guards were killed in the crossfire, the bodies falling to the floor, smoke rising from their scorched bodies, as Falcon somersaulted through the air, higher than a thought possible for a human to jump.

He landed behind two of the surprised guards, the lightsabers in his hands flashing, one impaling an opponent through the abdomen, the other separating an arm from the elbow of the other. The two men fell to the ground moaning in pain, clutching at their wounds.

By this point the remaining ten guards had refocused their aim and started firing at Falcon once more. He did move away this time, instead he began to deflect and dodge the bolts of death with the agility and grace of a dancer. The blades of the lightsabers becames blurs as shot after shot was sent arcing away from the Jedi, several hitting the guards who fired them and taking out another four men. Whilst still blocking the attacks with one hand, he thrust out the other and the six men were sent flying through the air, as if struck by a fist. Five stayed sprawled on the floor the sixth made to grab his fallen blaster and stand up. He was soon stopped by a bright blue blade perilously close to his throat.

"Just do me a favour, drop the weapon and leave. There has been enough killing today, I do not wish not add to it more than is necessary." He said his voice surprisingly calm. Wisely the man did as he was told and Falcon deactivated the lightsabers and hung them form his belt.

"Mako's 'reign is over!" he announced to the audience gathered in the room. "Those of you who leave now will not be held accountable for his crimes. Those who fight for him will share his fate." Without another word he turned and hurried down the corridor Mako left by, no doubt intending to finish his master's mission.

Once he had left an uneasy silence filled the room, though it only lasted a second before chaos broke out. Many of Mako's guests made for the exit, trampling others in an attempt to leave the mansion as quickly as possible. Others moved deeper into the mansion. I'm still not sure what their intentions were, possibly to try and pillage the mansion for valuables, maybe to try and aid Mako. I didn't really care at the time.

My attention was taken up by the various slaves and servants that worked for Mako. Now that his dominance was no longer assured many of those who once served him were now fighting back against their oppressor.

Most of the slaves had picked up anything that could be used as a weapon and were attacking the guards that were trying to keep order. Desperation and anger made up for any lack of training or weaponry, and whilst many were gunned down by the guards they eventually fell before the endless tide of angry slaves.

I stood amongst the destruction watching as my life fell to pieces. As the fighting intensified around me I realised with a jolt of fear that neither Vaas nor Taarbuck were in the room. If they didn't know what was going on they could get into serious trouble.

Despite the fear I felt I knew I had to find them. Doing my best to remain unseen I made my way across the room heading to the garage where Taarbuck should have been working this morning.

Fortunately with everything going on, not many people had time to worry about a weak, harmless slave girl so I managed to make it across the crowded room without incident. By sticking to the shadows and hiding whenever I heard someone approaching.

The deeper I got into the mansion, the more I worried about the only family I had left. I made it to the bowels of the mansion where Mako stored his speeders and starships. At that level most of the sound of fighting had faded away and my ragged breathing echoed loudly in my ears.

I rounded a corner and collided with a large figure. I looked up and my heart sank. I had run into Ran Jaxx, he'd always been a mean piece of work but that night he had a particularly cruel glint in his eye. I tried to back away but a hand grabbed my shirt to stop me. I cried out and struggled like a trapped animal in an attempt to escape his grasp but it was to no avail. As if I were no more than a rag doll he lifted me off my feet, and slammed me against the wall, knocking the air from my lungs.

He leaned in towards me, and grinned giving me a good look of his yellow, broken teeth. I retched as the foul stench that was his breath reached me. His other hand snaked up and stroked my hair softly.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little Katja. You always were such a pretty little girl." He whispered softly. He slurred his words and I could immediately tell that he was steaming drunk.

"Let… go of me" I gasped, struggling to breathe.

"Why would I want to do that? I have you exactly where I want you."

I recalled all those sidelong looks in the kitchens, the times he 'accidentally' brushed against me and my eyes widened in shock and terror as I realised his intensions. My struggles were redoubled as I desperately tried to escape Ran's grasp, but to no avail.

I wasn't strong enough and letting out a cry of desperation, I pushed against him in a last ditch attempt to escape.

To my surprise his flew away from me as if punched, and hit the wall hard, falling heavily to the floor.

He was quick to recover but fortunately I was quicker. By the time he had staggered to his feet I was sprinting down the corridor, desperately searching for the garage and Taarbuck, my protector.

As I ran through corridor after corridor, I soon became hopelessly lost. I couldn't afford to stop and catch my bearings however as the pants of Ran could be heard close behind me, and getting closer all the time.

My lungs were burning and my muscles were screaming for me to stop, yet I pushed myself onwards regardless. Just as my body was about to collapse I burst into a large room filled with machine parts, tools and vehicles in various states of disrepair.

I came upon the room so suddenly that I was momentarily startled into stopping. I was only stopped for a moment but that was all Ran needed to catch up to me. He collided with me, and I was sent sprawling on the floor.

I rolled on to my back and scurried away from the man towering before me. He was no longer grinning; instead his face was contorted into a snarl, bisected by a streak of blood trickling from a gash in his forehead.

"Now I'm mad," he growled softly, his voice filled with menace. "I would have been good to you Kat; if you'd have just let it happen then I would have let you be on your way. But now, now I'm going to have to hurt you."

He reached up to his head and showed me the blood stained hand.

"You see, you cut me, now I cut you. That's far isn't it?"

His hand went to his belt a came back with a large meat cleaver. He hefted the blade in his hand, testing the weight. He nodded to himself and swung the blade towards me. It whistled as it arced through the air, straight towards my bare neck.

I closed my eyes and prepared for the blow. I was surprised when I felt no pain, I assumed that it was the shock and the pain would swiftly follow.

Then I felt something wet and warm hit my cheek. I opened my eyes and saw a hairy, clawed, two-fingered hand gripping the cleaver, holding it inches away from my face. The blade had cut deep into the hand, and blood was flowing freely from the wound, dripping onto my upturned face.

"You stay away from my daughter you sick freak!" Taarbuck roared, though his face was twisted in pain. With a grunt he pushed away with all his might. It caused the cleaver to go deeper but it sent Ran stumbling. Taarbuck used the time it gave him to look at me.

"You okay Katja?" He asked.

"Thanks to you" I nodded in reply.

"That's good to know," he smiled "now be a good girl and get yourself somewhere safe whilst I deal with Ran."

"Be careful" I told him as I moved to the side of the room

"I will be." he promised, turning to face the now charging Ran.

He braced himself and squared his shoulders to meet the oncoming charge. Just before the two met, Taarbuck let out an almighty roar and leapt at Ran. They collided and fell to the floor in a flurry of flailing limbs.

Ran swung his cleaver again and again, blood flying with every swing. Taarbuck fought back with tooth and claw with the ferocity of a wild animal, bloodlust had taken over him. The fight carried on in this manner for some time, neither combatant gaining an advantageon the other, until Taarbuck managed to get both hands on either side of the fat man's head. Ran immediately stopped attacking and tried desperately to remove the powerful claws from his head. But once a Whipid has hold of its prey, it rarely lets go. Taarbuck ignored the weakening struggles of Ran, let out a howl and savagely twisted his head first to one side, then to the other. A loud crack was audible and Ran fell to the floor in a lifeless heap.

I ran over to congratulate Taarbuck on his victory but stopped half way, tears forming in my eyes. Though he was victorious, Taarbuck had not come out of the fight unscathed. He was bleeding heavily from multiple lacerations. He tried to move towards me but staggered and collapsed to the floor.

I ran to his side and cradled his head, tears streaming down my face.

"Do not cry little one," Taarbuck whispered, his voice weak. "you are free now. Leave me and escape. I will only slow you down"

I didn't answer, I couldn't. I simply shook my head and took his hand in mine. I could do nothing to prevent the life slowly leaving his body, but I refused to let him spend his last moments alone. His hand eventually slipped from mine, and the only true family I'd had for as long as I could remember, was lost to me.

I let out a cry of despair and darkness overwhelmed me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: The usual disclaimers apply, universe doesn't belong to me but characters and story does. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter :)**

How long I sat there cradling Taarbuck's lifeless body I'll never know. The next thing I was aware of was a concerned looking Vaas standing over us.

His mouth was moving but I could hear no sounds. He began tugging on my arm and gesturing frantically for me to get moving. I shook my head and held onto Taarbuck's body, my grip tightening.

Vaas kept trying but when I still didn't react he slapped me across the face. I'm not sure if he did it out of desperation or frustration, but it had the desired effect. The sudden shock of pain brought me out of my daze.

I blinked and looked up at Vaas, he spoke again this time I could hear what he was saying.

"Come on!" he cried "We have to get out of here quickly."

"You slapped me…" Was all I managed to say, my hand resting on the red mark on my face

"I'm sorry about that, I wasn't sure what else to do." he replied "But I need you to listen to me now Kat, please."

It was the desperation in his voice that got my attention. I suddenly recalled where we were and just how much danger we were in.

I shook my head to clear it. The pain was still fresh from losing Taarbuck but necessity meant that I was forced to push it away and focus on the problem at hand. There would be time for mourning later.

"Okay, I'm with you" I told him "How long has it been since everything went to hell?"

"I'm not really sure; I was in the kitchen when I heard what had happened and I've spent all my time since trying to find you."

He helped me to my feet and tried to pull me off towards the exit but I resisted looking down at Taarbuck

"What about Taarbuck? We can't just leave him here; a hero like him deserves a far better than this as his final resting place."

Vaas shook his head sadly "I wish we could do something Kat, but we're already pressing our luck by staying here this long. It's only a matter of time before someone stumbles upon us, and I don't really fancy our chances in a fight."

I wanted to argue with him, I wanted to stay and look after Taarbuck's body but I knew he was right. Taarbuck sacrificed himself protecting me and I couldn't let that go to waste. I knelt down beside him, stroked his fur once more, just like I did when I was younger, and bent forward placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you." I whispered. I forced myself to stand and turn away, desperately trying to blink back the tears; this was no time for weakness.

"Okay, I'm ready Vaas. What do we do now? Where do we go?"

"To be honest I'm not really sure Kat; we'll have to figure that out later. What I do know is that we have to leave this place, and soon. People are running riot all through the mansion and you can bet that most of them aren't friendly. I certainly don't want to be here to find out."

"Let's get out of here." I agreed. He took my hand and we set off in search of an exit. The journey out of the mansion that had been my home, my prison, for all those years was one of the most nerve-racking experiences of my life. We both knew that if we were to encounter anyone, it was unlikely that it would've ended well for us.

Luck was with us fortunately and we made our way out with little excitement, other than the odd splatter of blood on the floor. Or a distant scream echoing of the walls, but we never met anyone. Except once.

We were carefully making our way down a corridor when a scream emanated from around a corner just ahead of us. We both froze and I squeezed Vass' hand tightly.

The scream was cut short and a sudden streak of crimson decorated the wall in front of us. We edged our way to the corner and I peered round wearily.

The blood came from the throat of the young human slave girl, who was now lying on the floor, the life slowly draining out of her. The wound was caused by a large, oily man, holding a fearsome looking blade. He laughed and turned to his companion, an equally distasteful looking man.

The other man held in his arms another slave girl, this one a togruta. Her wide eyes were staring fearfully at what I can only presume was her friend, dying slowly on the floor. She was struggling wildly against her captors with everything she had, but to no avail.

"Come on," the first man growled to his companion "let's go somewhere private, where we won't be disturbed and have some fun with the little princess there."

The other man nodded in agreement and turned to carry off the young togrutan. Her eyes widened even further as their intentions dawned on her and her struggles began anew.

I started forward to try and help when a firm grasp on my arm stopped me. Vaas help onto me tightly. I opened my mouth to protest but he shook his head and silenced me.

Only once the footsteps of the two men had dwindled into silence did Vaas let me go. I rushed to the side of the human girl, hoping that it wasn't too late, that I could do something to help. But one look at the wound told me that it would be no use. She was still alive, but barely. She tried to talk but I shushed her.

"Save your strength" I told her, stroking her hair in an attempt to sooth her "It's all going to be okay" I lied.

The young girl suddenly drew in a breath and her eyes glazed over. I looked around and saw Vaas, his hand gripping the hilt of a vibrodagger that he had produced from somewhere on his body. He had thrust the dagger into the young girl's chest, blood pooling around his hand. Before I could say anything in objection he interrupted me. His voice was quiet and sad, but it had a steely edge to it.

"There was nothing else we could do Kat, in fact I did her a kindness by ending it quickly. It'd only have been a slow death otherwise."

Though I was still shocked at what he'd done, I could see that it had upset him greatly. I reached over and took his hand away from the blade, squeezing it gently, and gave him the best comforting smile I could manage.

"You did what you had to Vaas, I understand. Come on, we have to keep moving."

He nodded and we carried on making our way towards the exit and our freedom, leaving that poor girls body where it lay. I shudder to think just how many corpses were left to rot in the mansion that day, unnoticed and unburied, left for the scavengers to pick at.

At the time I tried desperately to avoid thinking about that image and moved even faster in search of an exit.

At long last, after what felt like an eternity, we made our way to the main exit of the mansion. The usual guards were nowhere to be seen, I imagine they fled in the chaos, or quite possibly killed by a mob of angry slaves. I didn't really care at the time, I was just glad that there was no one to stop us leaving.

We left the mansion and made our way through the perimeter gardens. Finding the gate unguarded we easily slipped through and finally left the mansion forever. Despite our hurry I came to an abrupt halt. The lush fields of Corellia were laid out before me, emerald seas of grass blowing in a gentle breeze, and having spent all my life cooped up inside the mansion, I had never seen so much open space.

I had long dreamed of this moment, and whilst I had heard stories of the beauty and vastness of the plains of Corellia, nothing could have prepared me for this. I drew in my first breath of free air for nearly 7 years, and I felt tears spring to my eyes, no matter how hard I tried to stop them. I could hardly believe it. I was free, I was finally free!

I felt the elation welling up inside me and almost immediately felt guilty. How could I feel happy with Taarbuck gone? Suddenly the events of the past few hours caught up with me and I felt incredibly tired. I stumbled but Vaas caught me before I could fall.

I tried to shrug his arm off, too stubborn to accept help, but he wouldn't let go. He looked at me with concern in his eyes and brought us to a stop.

"Kat you need to rest. You're exhausted; you won't get much farther in this state. Let's stop, have a rest for a while, and come up with some sort of plan. We can't just wander around aimlessly"

Despite my stubbornness I could hear the sense in his words. I nodded and we looked for a place to rest. With midday rapidly approaching and the sun beating down mercilessly, we decided to rest by a small grove of trees, where we could find shelter from the relentless sun.

As I slumped to the floor, I realised just how tired I actually was and before Vaas could join me on the floor I was fast asleep.

When I awoke the sky was starting to get dark. As I sat up and stretched, I found that I had been covered by Vaas' jacket. I smiled and looked around for Vaas to thank him. He was nowhere to be seen, I was alone.

"Vaas!" I called loudly, fearful that he had been captured by the remnants of Mako's guard, or that he had been killed by some beast of the Corellian wilds. I was just about to go looking for him when he suddenly appeared looking panic stricken and breathing heavily.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong," I replied sullenly, though inside I was elated that he hadn't left me. "I was just wondering where you'd gotten to?"

He relaxed and smiled sheepishly at me. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to worry you. Whilst you were sleeping I thought I'd do a bit of scouting ahead, have a look at where we can go. I was just on my way back when I heard you calling."

I felt embarrassed that I had kicked up such a fuss over something so simple quickly changed the topic.

"So, what's the plan then?"

"Coronet isn't far in that direction," he nodded in the direction he came from "I'd say no more than an hour's walk, and if we set off now we should be able to reach there by nightfall."

I was nervous about returning to my home city despite remembering very little of it, but I could see little other choice.

"Okay, that sounds like the best option. How will we survive once we get there?"

"It may have been many years since I was last on Nar Shaddaa," Vaas grinned "but I picked up quite a bit of skill at pick pocketing whilst there. I'm sure I've not lost all of it. I will steal what we need to survive, just until we can provide for ourselves."

I wasn't exactly happy about the idea of stealing, but it was either that or starve, I knew which I preferred.

With our plan of action decided we were on our way within ten minutes, not wanting to waste what little daylight we had left. I didn't want to have to spend the night out in the open, at the mercy of any wild beasts that may be roaming around.

We arrived at Coronet just as night arrived. Though the sky was dark the streets of the city were bright with neon light, and were bustling with crowds of people. The large crowds unnerved me initially, after the relative isolation of the mansion I was unused to so many people, but Vaas held my hand tightly and I found the courage to get through.

Eventually we found a quiet alley with fewer people, where we could get catch our breaths and find somewhere to rest and sleep whilst we were here.

"Okay Kat, before we can do anything we're going to need some credits, you stay here and I'll find us some."

Before he could dash off I hugged him tightly.

"Be careful Vaas, these people are dangerous."

"Relax, I'll be fine. In fact, I think I've just seen the perfect mark."

With that he was gone, disappearing after a tall figure in a light brown robe. Before they rounded a corner I got a glimpse of the mark's face, and I felt my blood run cold. It was the jedi padawan from Mako's mansion.

Remembering the skill and agility, with which the padawan dispatched Mako's guards I desperately tried to stop Vaas from getting himself into trouble but it was too late, they'd both disappeared into the crowd. I growled in frustration and could do nothing more than wait and hope for the best.

Vaas returned a lot sooner than I expected though and for a while it appeared that my concerns were unfounded. As he reappeared in the alley wearing a cocky grin and carrying a small, bulging, coin purse in one hand, a small dagger in the other. I punched him in the arm as he tossed me the coin purse. He rubbed his arm in mock pain and scowled at me

"What was that for?"

"Do you have any idea who you have just stolen from? He was at the mansion this morning, he was the one who killed Kimala and caused all that chaos." I hissed furiously.

Vaas just shrugged and replied coolly "Well he really ought to be more security conscious if he doesn't want to lose all his credits. Now come on, let's see what we've got."

He held out his hands and I emptied the contents of the purse into his outstretched hands. His eyes lit up at the pile of Credcoins that filled his palms.

"Quite a there isn't there?" A familiar voice asked from behind us. "Now if you don't mind I'd like it back."

I tried to make a run for it but a powerful hand clamped down on my shoulders preventing me from moving. I could see the same had happened to Vaas, whose eyes were wide with fear. I turned slowly and found myself looking into the face of the padawan Falcon Fox.

When he saw my face a look of shock crossed his face and he let go of my shoulder. Though I was now free to run I didn't, something told me I should stay.

"You!" he gasped "I recognise you from the mansion. When I looked at you, I recognised you; I felt a connection, though I know for a fact I've never seen you before."

"I felt it too." I murmured in awe "What does it mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure to be honest" he shrugged "I'm only a padawan myself and don't really have much knowledge of such things. But one thing I do know is that the force is strong in you, I can feel it."

"The force?" I replied in confusion "What's that?"

"I could spend an entire day trying to explain to you the intricacies of the force and you might still be no closer to understanding it. I think it would be simpler if I could just show you. Come with me to Coruscant, we will explain everything and, if you want you can join us as, and become a jedi knight."

"Really? I could do that?" My head became full of images of new worlds, exciting adventure and unparalleled choices.

"Well you could, providing you have the skills, but considering what I sense from you, I can't imagine that'll be much of a problem."

"I'd love to!" I grinned, but then I remembered Vaas, who'd been up to that point been watching us silently. "What about Vaas?"

Falcon looked Vaas up and down thoughtfully

"I'm not sure, I'm not getting an as strong feeling from him, and the jedi frown upon emotional attachments. You're better off leaving him here."

"Then you can leave without me. I'm not going anywhere without Vaas" I crossed my arms in defiance

Vaas tried to argue with me "Kat you don't have t-"

"Shut it!" I interrupted him "Either we both go, or neither of us does. That is the only way I'm going to go with you."

Falcon chewed on his lip, as in deep in thought. Finally he sighed and nodded

"All right fine, though it's against my better judgement I'll take you both. But if the jedi council says no, then that's final. Trust me; you don't argue with the council. Now follow me to my ship, I want to get off this planet as soon as we can, I fear it is no longer safe for me here."

Falcon turned and walked away, leading us to his ship and our freedom. Vaas and I shared a grin and followed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Dicslaimer: Usual Disclaimers Apply**

**A/N: I've done something different with this chapter and written it from a different character's point of view. Enjoy.**

Chapter 6 (Falcon's P.O.V.)

I key the coordinates for Coruscant into the navicomputer and activate the hyperdrive. As the ship enters lightspeed, I stare out the cockpit window into the mesmerising blue corridor that is hyperspace, glad to be leaving Coruscant behind. It feels wrong piloting the _Nalod Swan_. I'm used to sitting in the co-pilot's chair watching Luna fly the ship, but I guess now that Luna's gone she belongs to me.

"I promise I'll take good care of her." I whisper patting the control console gently. It will take a good few hours for the old Dynamic-class freighter to reach Coruscant so I make my way to my cabin to meditate on the outcome of the mission.

As soon as I close my eyes images of my old master come flooding into my mind. We had spent almost ten years together, she showed me so many things and despite what we get taught against emotional attachment I still miss her. I try to push the thought of her out of my mind though I have other more important things to consider, like the two children currently sleeping in the starboard dormitory.

I'm still not sure if I've made the right decision bringing them with me but I sense that my future is intertwined closely with the girl, Katja she said her name was. I would rather have not brought the Twi'lek, the bond the two of them share could be an issue, but the girl was quite insistent. I'll leave it to the council to decide their fates; I am just a padawan after all.

After some time there's a chime at my door, I open it to find Katja standing there.

"Is everything okay? Can I help you with anything?"

"I'm fine, I just can't sleep that's all. I was wondering if we could talk."

"Of course, come in, sit down." I smile, trying to look reassuring. "What would you like to talk about?"

She sits down, wringing her hands nervously.

"When you first found us you mentioned the Force, but you never explained what it was. What is it? And why am I strong in it?" She asks.

"That's quite a big question, with an even bigger answer. I'll answer but I will try to keep things brief and simple for you. The force is a mystical energy field that is created by all living beings in the galaxy. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it is what binds the galaxy together. Someone who is considered to be strong in the force has the ability to control it, and use it to affect the world around them." I pause and see if she's paying attention. Katja is staring up at me with wide eyes filled with awe and understanding. Sudden realisation strikes me. "You know what I'm talking about don't you? You have tapped into your power."

She nods in affirmation "Have you got a small pebble or coin? Anything small will do." I fish in my pocket and pass to her a Credcoin. She catches it and places it on a table in front of her.

"Please try not to make any noise; I need absolute concentration for this to work."

She begins to stare at the coin, deep in concentration. After several seconds it slowly, if a little shakily, rises a few inches off the table, stays there for a second before dropping back to the table. She grins triumphantly at me, though a sheen of sweat has formed on her forehead, she clearly finds it very tiring.

"Very impressive," I murmur "it is rare for someone to develop a conscious skill in the force without training."

Katja shrugs and tries to look modest. "It's Vaas who should really get the praise; he showed me how to do it first."

"Your modesty will serve you well if you choose to become a Jedi." I note with a smile.

"Do you really think that I can be a jedi?

"Without a doubt, you certainly have the potential. But," I interrupt the smile already forming on her face "I'm afraid it's not quite as simple as that. There are a few complications."

"Like?"

"For one thing you may not choose to become a jedi, it's a hard life, and at times a lonely one. Whilst we have our fellow jedi knights, we are forbidden from having emotional attachments."

"That's ridiculous! Why?!" Katja cries out in outrage. I hold out a hand to silence her before continuing.

"A jedi must be in complete control of their emotions, attachments compromise this with potentially disastrous results. Emotional outbursts, like what you just displayed would be frowned upon by the jedi council. I would advise that when I present you to them, you try to have a stronger grip on your emotions or at the very least your tongue."

I paused to note her reaction, seeing she had calmed down and I still had her attention I continued

"That also brings me to my next point; there is no guarantee that you will be accepted into the academy, you are quite a bit older than most younglings when they join, you've had chance to form friendships and emotional ties. The council may decide that it is unwise to train you."

"What happens if they decide not to?" she asks me nervously

"Most likely, you'll be allowed to live your life freely on Coruscant. You will have freedom but you'll be closely monitored, for security's sake." I could tell by her face that she wasn't keen on the idea, not surprising considering her history, but she said nothing, instead she simply put on a brave face and flashed me a smile.

"Then I guess we just have to make sure they accept is then, don't we?"

I smile at her optimism and nod "I guess so. Now you really should go and rest Katja, we're going to be busy once we reach Coruscant and it may be some time before you get chance again. Trust me; you'll thank me for it later."

She looks at me sullenly but does as she is told and leaves the room, most likely going back to the young Twi'lek boy. The rest of the journey passes by uneventfully and I spend it meditating in my cabin.

About twenty minutes before we're due to leave hyperspace I make my way to the cockpit to make the final preparations for our arrival. I activate the intercom system that links to the rest of the ship.

"Attention passengers of the _Nalod Swan_ we will shortly be arriving at our destination. Please make your way to the cockpit, you're gonna want to see this."

The two of them arrive shortly, the Twi'lek looking slightly annoyed.

"What do you want? I was sleeping."

"I just though the two of you might be interested in getting a look at the political, financial and social centre of the galaxy, Coruscant." I had timed in perfectly and at that moment I cut the hyperdrive and exited hyperspace. The planet filled the cockpit's viewport, I hear Katja gasp in awe.

"Beautiful isn't she?" I whisper softly "Still gets me every time, so full of vibrancy and life. Home to the Republic senate, the Jedi Temple and shortly, you two."

Katja smiles, her eyes filled with wonder and excitement. Her friend however supresses a yawn, looking decidedly unimpressed.

"Yeah, that's great." He mutters.

"Oh stop being so miserable Vaas." Katja growls elbowing him in the ribs. "What's up with you?"

"I used to live on Nar Shaddaa, once you've seen one metropolis planet you've seen them all. Well technically it's a moon but you know what I mean."

"Well whatever your excuse, you're being rude. Master Fox didn't have to take us with him, but he rescued us and brought us here to this amazing planet where we actually have a chance at a future. Now grow up and appreciate the kindness that has been shown to us!" She stops to catch her breath and her cheeks redden in embarrassment when she sees me watching her with a bemused smile.

The young Twi'lek looks bashfully at me "I'm sorry," he says softly "it's just that I became a slave on Nar Shaddaa, I'm not really a fan of bustling cities as a result."

I feel a sudden pang of empathy. This youngling has spent nearly all his life in slavery; nearly every adult he has met has treated him with cruelty. No wonder he's been acting suspicious towards me. I rest a hand on his shoulder and smile at him reassuringly.

"You don't have to worry anymore Vaas, you'll be safe here. I promise." He doesn't look entirely convinced but he nods and cheers up noticeably.

I turn back to the ships control console and begin our descent towards the planet. The ship bucks as we enter the atmosphere, as it's buffeted by the air. I submit my authorisation codes to Coruscant Control; they direct me to land in the hangar of the southwest tower of the Jedi Temple.

I fly the_ Nalod Swan _in low over the Temple Precinct heading straight towards the Jedi Temple, its five spires towering impressively over everything around them, like a protective father figure watching over his younglings.

The sight of the temple fills me with sudden nostalgia; I remember getting chosen by Luna to be a padawan, the missions we'd been on, and her death at the hands of that villainous zabrak. I shake my head, trying to clear it; I can't afford to let myself become emotionally compromised by grief. I am a Jedi Knight. _There is no emotion, only peace._ I _must_ remember the tenants of the Jedi Code.

The entrance of the tower hangar swallowed my little ship eagerly. I land in Luna's usual garage and begin shutting down the ships engines. I lower the boarding ramp and guide Katja and the Twi'lek out of the ship and into the temple.

I let out a small sigh of contentment as we enter the hangar; I always find the sounds of distant engineering work, and the smells of oil and grease to be very comfortable and familiar. I've always had a natural talent when it comes to vehicles. I can make them do almost anything when it comes to piloting, and I'm almost as good when it comes to fixing them.

As we leave the ship a young red-headed human female in grease covered overalls approaches me, wiping her hands clean on a ragged red cloth. Her appearance is barely visible under a layer of soot and grime but I know that beneath it all is the attractive face of a young 24-standard year old girl. Her bright red hair is tied back in a simple ponytail and intelligent, icy blue eyes shine out at me. She grins at me, her teeth are slightly crooked but few men really take much notice of them when they talk to her.

"Falcon Fox, I do hope you haven't done too much damage to that ship. Last time you took her out it took me forever to get her fixed up again." She punches me in the arm before pulling me into a hug.

"I think you'll find that wasn't my fault Aria." I grin hugging her back. The girl is Aria Regel; she works here at the Temple and is one of the best engineers I have ever met. She has no force sensitivity but is hired to work here, looking after the Jedi's ships, one of about twenty mechanics working here, but by far the best.

Over my years here, we have bonded over our shared love of star ships and she is probably my closest friend here at the temple.

"Oh yeah, apparently it was all Luna's doing. Speaking of which, where is she? She normally likes to defend herself."

The smile slips from my face and I shake my head. "I'll tell you about it later, I need to take these two to see the council" I nod towards the two younglings.

Her eyes fill with understanding and she smiles sympathetically. "Okay, I guess I'll see you later."

I hug her again before moving on, her eyes had started to fill up and I knew she hated to appear weak so I left quickly.

I lead Katja and Vaas to the turbolift at the far end of the hangar which will take us straight to the council's chambers. Despite the lift moving at a fairly rapid pace, due to the height of the spire, the journey still takes some time. After several minutes of silence it is broken by Katja.

"So, who was that?" She asks slyly nudging me with her elbow gently. "I thought you said that you weren't allowed emotional attachments."

"She isn't an emotional attachment, just a friend, nothing more." I reply sternly, though I feel my cheeks redden slightly. Honestly there is nothing between us, but that isn't to say I haven't noticed her body, I am a jedi, but I am still human after all. Of course it wouldn't do to let the younglings know that however.

"Now you're about to go before some of the wisest and powerful beings in the galaxy, if you're asked anything just be honest and don't try to hide your emotions, if you can do that you'll both do fine."

Finally the turbolift reached the top of the spire. The door opens and we step out into a room that leads to the council chambers. We are told to wait for a further twenty minutes before the council are available to see us. We're lucky; sometimes you can be left waiting for hours to see them.

We stand in the centre of the council chambers as we are scrutinized by the nine members of the council.

"Welcome back Padawan Fox," Arual Shan, human female, Jedi Grand Master and head of the council, greets us with a nod of the head. "Where is Master Rosa? And what are those two younglings doing here?"

"I'll answer the first question if I may; unfortunately during our last mission to apprehend the crime boss Mako Novar, my master engaged in a duel with Mr Novar's head of security. A zabrak, called Kimala. Luna won the duel but Kimala used treachery to gain the upper hand. She… she was killed by a vibrodagger in the chest." A murmur of concern ripples through the council members.

"What happened to this zabrak?" Grand Master Shan asks "And Mr Novar"

I know this part might not go down well, but I must tell the truth. "Kimala is dead, I fought and killed her. As for Mako I completed the mission and he is now incarcerated in Coronet City, awaiting transport to one of the galaxy's maximum security detention facilities."

Grand Master Shan nods her head in understanding, staring at me intensly. "I trust you acted as was needed Padawan Fox. It is unfortunate what happened to your master, but you did well to complete your mission."

I breathe a soft sigh of relief that I wasn't to be reprimanded for killing Kimala. The relief is cut short however by another member of the council Wetham Roc, a male bith.

"What about the two younglings? How do they enter into this story?"

"The two of them used to be slaves of Mako Novar, once he was disposed; the two of them had nowhere to go. I found them living on the streets of Coronet, hungry, homeless and resorting to pickpocketing to survive. I tested them and they both have much potential in the force. In fact they have even managed to gain some control of their latent powers without training."

"I know that they're older than is traditional, but it is my desire that the two of them be accepted into the order and trained as jedi knights."

The council share concerned looks before asking me to wait outside whilst they discuss my proposal and question the two youngling. After nearly an hour of anxious waiting I am asked back into the chamber whilst Katja and Vaas are told to wait outside.

"We have carefully considered what you have told us Padawan Fox," Grand Master Shan begins solemnly "and whilst we do have concerns about the age of the two younglings, we have deemed that, as they have already shown the ability to teach themselves, it would be too risky to allow them to age unchecked. As such we will agree to your request to train the younglings."

"Due to their advanced age they will be trained at a more intensive level than the other initiates in order to help them catch up. To ensure that they have some form of companionship we have decided that they will both be assigned to Bergruufta Clan under the tutelage of Master Maar. However we must warn you, their progress and development will be closely monitored and at the first sign of trouble they will be dealt with swiftly."

I nod thankful that they had agreed to train Katja. Bowing low in respect I turn to leave but am stopped in my tracks by Grand Master Shan.

"There is one more thing we would like to discuss with you. Just before you left on your mission, your master had filed a report claiming her belief that you were ready to undertake the Jedi Trials to become a full Jedi Knight. Unfortunately, due to her premature demise she is unable to submit you to the trials. Despite this, we have agreed that through your last mission you have showed all the traits we deem necessary in a Jedi Knight and as a result the mission will stand in as your trials." She pauses for effect, before gracing me with one of her rare smiles "I am pleased to say you have passed, with flying colours. You are now officially Falcon Fox, a Jedi Knight of the Republic."

I smile and bow even lower than before. "Thank you, wise masters." I turn and leave the room. I entered a padawan and now leave a fully-fledged Jedi Knight.

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. The narration will switch back to Katja for the next chapter, though if Falcon's point of view proves popular, her may return to narrate more.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Usual Disclaimers apply.**

**A/N: Finally publishing a new chapter. I'm sorry it's taken so long but I've had exams. Thankfully they're over now so I should be publishing chapters at a much faster rate. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter and thank you very much for reading. :)**

Chapter 7 (Katja's P.O.V.)

When Falcon left the council chamber he had a large grin plastered on his face. He told us, to much celebration, that we were to both be trained as Jedi.

From the council chambers Falcon took us on a brief but very thorough tour of the temple whilst he told us how we would be spending the next few years of our lives. We were to be placed in the Bergruufta clan which Falcon told us chose its members based on a predisposition to be loyal to others and true of heart. That certainly brought a smile to my face. Once he'd finished Falcon showed us to where we would be living and swiftly vanished, apparently the life of a Jedi is quite a busy one. I don't really see Falcon much, he tries to visit me whenever he can and see how I'm progressing but his work can keep his at the other end of the galaxy for incredibly long periods of time. I suppose it's for the best though really when I think about it. In the very short time that I had spent with Falcon I had admittedly grown quite attached to him, and if I want to become a Jedi I cannot afford emotional attachments.

Before we could meet the other initiates or begin training, Vaas and I had to get our uniforms. Initiates wear virtually the same attire as a jedi: tunic, belt and boots- everything but the robe, I'll be rewarded with that when I pass the initiate trials. I absolutely adore my uniform and wear it with pride everywhere I go. It makes me feel like I belong somewhere, that I belong to something bigger than myself. I've never experienced that before and I have to admit, it's a pretty good feeling

Normally the Jedi Initiates in a clan advance and grow together but Vaas and I were a special exception. As we had already missed some years of training, we would originally be placed in with the youngest but be given extra intensive training, and in an ideal universe we would rapidly advance to be level with the other Initiates.

I am pleased to say that it worked and within a couple of years of training we were once again with younglings of our own age, more or less. Unfortunately due to that I struggled to get close to any of the other initiatives, well except for Vaas that is. If anything our lack of friends probably pushed us closer together.

As initiates there are Three Pillars that we must master before we are able to take the trials and become Padawans. The first pillar is The Force. I really could wax lyrical about this pillar for hours on end and still not have told you even half of the things that we must learn, so I'll try to keep things brief. It is vital for a Jedi to have both an understanding and control over the Force and before we can learn anything else we must achieve this. I managed to master this pillar with relative ease, having already trained to a small degree at using the Force for levitation, with the proper teaching and guidance I soon learnt how to bend the Force to my will, even if it was at a rather basic level.

The second pillar, Knowledge, is commonly thought of as the most important of the three. It is also my personal favourite. It's pretty self-explanatory so I'll just go into a little bit of detail of why it's so important. Once I pass the initiate trials and become a Padawan, the majority of my time will be spent with my master roaming the galaxy. We could travel to any number of exotic locations and interact with a wide range of interesting and exciting species. We may be expected to act as ambassadors, to broker a peace a peace treaty between two warring species or perform any number of missions that require a certain amount of diplomacy. It is during such a mission, that knowing a species' language, customs or history could be the difference between success and failure.

There will also be times when my master and I will have to deal with hostile creatures. The better we understand these animals, the easier it will be to sedate, subdue or avoid them with minimal harm to the creatures. Whilst we will kill them if it necessitates, they are still one with the Force and wanton slaughter of such beasts is not the Jedi way.

The work for this pillar is hard and ceaseless (there's always more to learn about the galaxy we live in) but I relish the chance to learn, having been kept locked up in that mansion for most of my life I was eager to soak up as much of the world I had been missing as was possible. The temple has a large library filled with Holocrons and Datacards just jam-packed with information on damn near anything you could possibly want to read up on.

My instructors tell me that I have what they call 'a near eidetic memory'. I can remember almost anything I have read and it gives me a terrific edge when it comes to this pillar. I can already speak several languages fluently and am working all the time on learning more.

Yu-Sien Komo, the Chief Librarian often jokes to me that when he passes on I'll be the one to replace him. I laugh at that and tell him maybe but inside I know that it'll never happen, I've spent too much of my life cooped up, I need to explore the galaxy. My destiny's out there, I know it.

Anyway, before I begin to waffle on for far too long about the many different varieties of slug in the galaxy and how to tell the difference between them, I'll move swiftly onto the third and final pillar. Self-Discipline.

It is in this field of knowledge that an initiate first gets to wield a lightsaber, needless to say it is the favourite pillar of many of the initiates, Vaas included. Whilst I have to admit there's a certain thrill to igniting a training saber and listening to it hum as it swings through the air, as the instructors are so often fond of reminding us, the pillar is called Self-Discipline, _not _Combat.

There are two main areas that this pillar is concerned with, elementary lightsaber skills, and mediation. We are expected, as a minimum to meditate five times every day, though it is advised to do so whenever possible; the more often you meditate the stronger your connection to the Force becomes.

Whilst I do okay in most other areas of my training, the meditation really isn't my strong suit. The theory and technique I have down to a T, but every time I shut my eyes and try to find that inner-peace, images from my past life flash through my mind, chief of those being that of Taarbuck dying in my arms. It isn't really conducive for relaxation.

In fact I'm finding it difficult to relax at all lately. Any time I try to empty my mind or just shut off for a while the same thing happens as when I try to meditate. Not only does it disrupt my meditation but about 18 standard months ago it started interrupting my sleep too. At first the insomnia was a nuisance, I was always tired, irritable and generally felt a bit down. But as time went on I got used to it and now, whilst not an ideal situation, I deal with it. I just try to look on the bright side; it gives me more time for research.

The only other important part of my initiate training that's left to talk about is the combat. At initiate level we only study Form I of lightsaber combat, also known as _shii-chi_. It is the most basic, and oldest of the seven forms. I don't want to bore you, so I won't go into detail about the technicalities of the form, suffice to say that it doesn't excel in any area, nor is it particularly weak in any area. As a good all-rounder, and the foundation for all the other forms it is vital that an initiate masters this form before they can graduate to become a Padawan.

So, that is pretty much all there is to Initiate training, I have spent the last few years working to master the three pillars (I am nearly at the end of this training period, and I expect to be able to take the trials within the year). The time has passed fairly uneventfully, and has been very much like the training for all the other initiates. That is except for the incident….

Our clan's instructor is a human female by the name of Amaya Maar. She's a strange one is Master Maar, always seems to be lost in her own thoughts, but I wouldn't change a thing about her. Her pale and finely sculpted features are framed by long, straight, black hair with bright blue streaks running through it. She is small, I would say no taller than around 5ft 3in, and never speaks in anything but a soothing, gentle tone, but that doesn't mean she's a push over. When we first started lightsaber training and found that Master Maar would be the one teaching us, many of the initiates, admittedly myself included, were a bit unsure that someone as seemingly timid and distracted as her could properly teach us how to handle a lightsaber or defend ourselves in a fight. Jecht Moross, a particularly loud mouthed Zabrak in our clan couldn't help but to point this out to her. He was tall and thickly built, used to being the biggest around and not someone you messed with. He was always getting reprimanded for aggressive behaviour.

Anyway when he confronted her about this she calmly told him that if he wanted a different instructor all he had to do was tackle her to the ground, and she would arrange for him to be transferred to a different clan. Jecht was confident that he could overpower Master Maar, grinning he charged at the petite Master. It happened so fast my eyes didn't register that Master Maar had actually moved, all I know is one second Jecht was charging at her like a rabid Reek, the next he was flat on his back with the Jedi Master stood over him with a soft smile on her face offering Jecht her hand. Embarrassed the young zabrak refused the offer and stormed off. Since that day he's been a lot more sedated .I think I'm getting a bit off track here, I just wanted to illustrate the kind of teacher Master Maar is.

The incident in question happened during training about 3 or 4 months ago. By this point we had finished basic combat techniques and were now working on the more advanced exercises. One such exercise was some basic sparring to enable us to gain experience fighting against a real opponent. For the sparring we didn't use real lightsabers, they're far too dangerous, for training we use practise sabers. They fortunately won't cause any amputations or death but will still cause minor burns, welts or bruises which, as I can testify to, are rather painful.

Master Maar put us into pairs based on our ability and told us to spar until one of us yielded. I had been put with Drossereb Millwa, a pasty boy from Alderaan. Quite frankly I was insulted, whilst I may not be the most competent fighter; Drossereb is, for lack of a better word, a drip. I guess I didn't mind that much; I hadn't slept a wink the night before and was feeling a bit irritable.

I defeated him quickly, disarming him with a swift sweep of my saber and forcing him to yield with my blade at his throat. I deactivated the saber and went to sit down and watch the other initiates in their duels.

After ten minutes or so, most of the duels were over. A few initiates were chatting together, other were nursing the bruises they had just received. One duel that was still going on however was that which Vaas was involved in, and it didn't show any signs of slowing down.

He had been paired with Jecht and they were both furiously going at it. Their sabers clashed again and again, neither fighter giving any ground. The other initiates soon took notice of the clash and started to gather to watch, one or two even cheered. Vaas and Jecht were the best two fighters in the clan and a match-up like this really was quite exciting.

Ever since his humiliation at the hands of Master Maar, Jecht had been working hard at his training, desperate to rebuild his reputation. His face was a picture of aggression as he swung repeatedly at Vaas, trying again and again to get past Vaas' defences. Time after time however his swipes and slashes were deflected by Vaas' blade.

Vaas was amazing, he was moving with the grace of a Twi'lek dancer, his face a mask of serenity. It seemed like nothing could break through his defences, and Jecht was tiring rapidly from the exertion. Jecht raised the blade over his head, ready for a powerful overhead swing. Vaas saw his chance and moved in for the kill (metaphorically speaking), slipping past Jecht's defences, Vaas' elbow connected with Jecht's stomach winding him. Jecht lost hold of his training saber and it clattered to the floor.

Vaas deactivated his own saber and turned his back on his defeated opponent.

"Where are you going? I did not yield! DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" Jecht roared hurling himself at Vaas and tackling him to the ground. I saw Jecht lean down and whisper something in Vaas' ear before he could recover and throw Jecht off his back. I couldn't hear what was said but it had a definite effect.

Jecht scurried backwards away from Vaas, reclaiming his saber. Igniting the weapon he stood ready for the counter attack, a cocky grin on his face.

"Let's see how you do this time Twi'lek" he sneered.

Vaas stood and, using the force called his training saber to his hand, he'd dropped it during the scuffle. His face was void of all emotion, but his eyes, his eyes were filled with an intense anger. That look in his eyes, it shook me to my very core.

He attacked Jecht with an almost animal ferocity, raining vicious blows down upon the initiate. Jecht could barely defend himself. The next couple of seconds seemed to pass in slow motion as several things happened at once.

Master Maar, sensing that things were getting out of hand started towards the sparring initiates, yelling for them to stop. Jecht realising that he was in danger tried leaping back out of harm's way, shouting that he yielded as he did so. Unfortunately Vaas had, at the same moment swiped low and hard at Jecht.

The training saber connected with Jecht's knees. Whilst the saber can't cut through limbs, the blow had enough force behind it to shatter his kneecap. Jecht fell to the ground, screaming in pain and cradling his knee. The broken bone had broken the skin and I could see the white bone poking through.

Vaas seemed to come back to his senses staring at the scene before him with a shell-shocked look on his face. I made a move to go to him but before I could get there he shook his head in horror, dropped the training saber and fled.

The rest of the room was a flurry of activity. Master Maar was knelt by Jecht's side tring to sedate the screaming boy. The other initiates were scurrying around following Master Maar's orders. I barely noticed any of it though; all I could do was watch the door Vaas left by, filled with an eerie sense of foreboding.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will hopefully finish the next one before the end of the week.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply**

Chapter 8

I stayed that way for a long time, just staring off into space, lost in my own thoughts. After some time, I'm not sure exactly how long, I was brought out of my reverie by a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to find the solemn face of Master Maar watching me with concerned eyes.

"How are you feeling Kat?" she asks her voice soft. "That can't have been easy for you."

"Oh I'm fine." I waved away her concern. "It's Vaas you should be concerning yourself with. I've never seen him act like that before."

"Did he frighten you Kat? Are you afraid?"

The tone of her voice made me uneasy and I hesitated before answering.

"Of course not master," I lied "_there is no emotion, there is peace." _I quoted the jedi code.

"You lie child." I open my mouth to argue but she stops me. "Do not argue, your emotions are written all over your face."

I bow my head in shame. "I'm sorry Master; I'll do better next time."

"I asked for no apology Katja because one is not required. Emotions are tricky things to deal with. They surround us constantly, they are what drive people to do what they do and we interact with them on a day to day basis.

Yet as Jedi we are expected to not only hold our emotions in check, which is difficult enough at the best of times, but to remove them from our lives completely. It is not an easy task for even the most experienced Jedi Master."

"But Master Maar, everyone says that these emotions lead to the dark side. Are you telling me it's not true?"

"Not at all young one, in fact they're quite right. But it is our emotions that set us apart from the beasts and creatures of the galaxy. Without them we would be nothing more than robots, regardless of how noble our intentions are.

I guess what I'm trying to get across Kat is that to experience the odd emotion is perfectly natural and you have absolutely nothing to worry about, or feel ashamed for. Problems only arise if you let those emotions govern your actions. Do you understand?"

"Yes Master, thank you Master" I nodded

"Good," she smiled "now we've got that unpleasant business out of the way, I'll ask you again. How are you feeling Kat? Honestly this time if you will."

"A little shook up," I admitted "and worried about Vaas."

"As am I, but do not fear Kat for nothing that has been done today is irreversible. Now I think it would be best if you went and tried talking to Vaas."

"But why me?" I asked confused "Would it not be better if you went and spoke to him?"

"I think not, Vaas is in a very delicate place right now. If it's not handled correctly we might lose him forever. He needs a friend, someone who won't judge him, someone to be there for him. That someone is you my dear."

"What if I mess up? What if I just make things worse?"

"You won't." she reassured me "Trust in yourself, I know you can do this."

I still wasn't entirely sure that I was the best choice for the job but I could see little other alternative. So after thanking Master Vaas for her advice and guidance I went in search of my friend.

I found him near the top of one of the temple's spires. He was sat on one of the balconies, well not so much a balcony as a precariously thin ledge next to the balcony. He was staring out over Coruscant looking rather morose. Carefully I climbed onto the ledge and edged my way towards Vaas.

He seemed completely lost in his own thoughts, showing no awareness of my presence even when I was right next to him. Acutely aware of the tremendous drop waiting if one of us should fall, I reached out a wary hand to tap him on the shoulder.

"Hello Kat." He said before my hand reached him. I jumped back startled, nearly losing my footing in the process. He swiftly reaches out grabbing my outstretched hand; he makes sure that I've regained my balance before letting go.

"Sorry," he grinned "I sensed you coming and couldn't resist"

I laughed and punched him in the arm gently. "You laserbrain, I could have died!"

"Nonsense, I would have caught you."

"What happens on the day that you're not there to save me?"

"Kat, I will always be there for you."

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep." I chided gently

"I don't intend to." Vaas said seriously, taking my hand. His tone and soft touch surprised me, I had never seen him like this before, never seen him so vulnerable, he was normally so laidback and carefree.

"Vaas…" I whispered softly. He smiled and pulled his hand away plastering the usual cocky grin on his face.

"So, how did you find me anyway?" He asked trying to change topics swiftly. I wanted to ask him about what he had just said but I knew there'd be no point. Vaas would never openly admit a moment of weakness, much less talk about it.

"I know how much you like a view, and they don't get much better than this." I replied sitting down next to him, dangling my legs over the edge of the ledge.

"I imagine they're pretty annoyed with me down there aren't they?" I shrugged and didn't answer immediately. He took that as a bad sign. "You too? Look I'm sorry about what happened Kat, truly I am but-"

"Stop," I interrupted him "you don't have to apologise to me."

"Really?" I nodded and smiled putting an arm round his shoulders.

"Of course you fool, didn't we promise to always stick together? I don't care what you did; all that matters to me is that you're okay."

"That's comforting to know Kat, thanks." He said starting to stand

"Still, I want to know what went on back there. Don't think you're getting off that lightly mister." He sighed and sat back down.

"Fine, I can see there's no arguing with you. I'll tell you what happened."

"Oh, I saw what happened, and it wasn't pretty either. I just want to know what caused it, I saw Jecht whisper something in your ear just before you flipped." I forced him to make eye contact "What did he say?"

"It was nothing, honestly don't worry about it." He replied shaking his head.

"Don't give me any of the nonsense, he said something to you and you snapped. I want to know what it was. Please Vaas."

"Why do you want know? I made a mistake, it was wrong but I did it, it's over now so why must you continue to pressure me?"

"I need to know whether or not it might continue to be an issue for you, what if someone else says the same thing to you and you lose it again. If I know what it was then I may be able to help. Plus," I said with a smile "I need to know if I have to go have words with him myself."

"There's definitely no need for that," Vaas laughed "all he said was something about me being a twi'lek. It caught me a bit off-guard; I wasn't expecting it that's all. It won't happen again, I promise."

"Vaas, let me just ask you a question. Do you think I'm an idiot? We have known each other almost all our lives; I know when you're lying to me."

"How did you know?" He sighed softly

"Your lekku twitch in a certain way when you lie." I grinned prodding one of head-tails playfully. He shoved me laughing.

"All right, I give up, you win. I'll tell you. But you have to promise that once I've told you, you'll just leave it at that. You promise you won't make a big deal out of it?"

"Deal, now tell me"

He didn't talk immediately, just stared out over the Coruscant skyline. I imagine he was trying to work up the courage to tell me what Jecht said. He took a deep breath before starting and wouldn't look me in the eyes whilst he spoke.

"Now please remember you promised not to make a big deal. What he said to me was, 'When I'm done with you here, I'm going to take your whore of a girlfriend and do to her what you never could.' " He avoided my gaze, and his jaw was clenched. I reached over to take his hand but he shrugged mine away and continued talking.

"I've told you. Can we move on now please? I don't really want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay, but you really ought to tell Master Vaas what Jecht said, she can deal with him properly."

"I think that'll just be adding fuel to a fire that's already burning strong. I appreciate you're just trying to help Kat but I think that Jecht's suffered quite enough. That injury I gave him will never quite heal. He's going to have at least a limp for the rest of his life. I would imagine that his life as a Jedi is well and truly over and personally, I struggle to imagine a worse punishment." He stood up and headed back along the ledge to the balcony. "Come on, let's go and face the music."

I nodded absentmindedly, lost in my own thoughts. I was both shocked and touched by Vaas' reaction. I never realised before that point just how much he cares for me. He's like the brother that I've never really had. I was lucky to have him in my life; I just hoped that they didn't kick him out of the academy for what he did.

"Hey! Are you coming or not?" Vaas called from the balcony.

"Yeah, I'm on my way." I replied bringing myself back to reality. I followed Vaas back to the balcony, smiling as I watched him recklessly perform handstands on the balcony railing. He leapt down when I reached him and together we walked down back to the lower levels of the academy.

When we got back Vaas asked me if he could go and talk to Master Maar on his own. I agreed and had to spend a couple of anxious hours waiting for his return. When he finally returned I rushed towards him to see what had happened. My stomach sank as I saw a gloomy look on his face.

"What did she say?" I had to ask, fearing the worst. He looked sadly at his feet shaking his head, before suddenly a smile spread across his face.

"I can stay." He grinned "Master Maar said that as long as I don't mess up again then I can remain and complete my training."

"That's great!" I cried but punched him in the arm "But that's for worrying me."

"Ow, that hurt!" Vaas said in mock pain, he grabbed me in a headlock and ruffled my hair. I wriggled out of his grip and glared at the Twi'lek before hugging him tightly. He patted me on the back and laughed.

"I'm so glad you don't have to leave." I whispered.

"Me to." He replied tenderly, the softness in his tone surprising me. I pulled away from him, blushing slightly.

"Let's go." I smiled "We still have a lot a training to do before we can become Padawans." I took his hand and dragged him off to one of the training rooms, where we spent the rest of the day doing some light sparring.

And that brings my tale up to the present. Master Maar says that very soon Vaas and I should be ready to take the Initiate Trials to become Padawans, and our training has changed to reflect that. It really is exciting. I've not been told what the trials will entail beforehand, all I know is that they are three of them and are designed to test the various things we need to be a jedi. At the moment my time is pretty much split between training and sleeping, little else. I don't mind though, it'll be worth when I become a Padawan.

Several weeks pass and the day of the Trials arrives. By this point I'm getting a little nervous. Vaas is fine, he's absolutely revelling in the pressure, and I'm a little bit jealous it has to be said.

I am pleasantly surprised by the First Trial; it's designed to test an initiate's knowledge of the Jedi Code. Needless to say I breeze through that trial. I leave the trial, my confidence buoyed by the ease of it. I am not naïve enough to think that the rest of the trials will be as suited to my talents as this one but it helps to know that I'm not completely useless. I don't know how well Vaas has done. We're being kept separate whilst we complete the trials.

"To prevent emotions from clouding our performance." Master Maar tells me when I ask why.

I arrive at the second trial and realise that this one will, unfortunately, not be as simple as the first. I am told that for this trial I will be tested in self-discipline. My eyes are covered with a blindfold and a saber is placed in my hand. Whether real or a training saber I cannot tell. I ignite the saber and turn in a circle warily.

"What am I meant to do?" I ask tentatively. I get no response but feel someone rushing at me from behind. I spin and bring my blade up to parry. I feel something crash against my weapon and I stagger backwards from the blow. Sensing another attack from my right, I duck and roll to the left. I didn't manage to completely avoid this attack and something struck my ankle hard. I came to my feet and tested the ankle. Pain flared. I put most of my weight onto the good ankle and prepared for the next attack.

I took some deep breaths and tried to clear my head. I feel flustered and thrown of balance, I'm just about ready to pack it in when suddenly it dawns on me. The trial is about self-discipline, not combat. I relax and let my saber drop the by my side. When I feel an attack coming from my right again I step aside with ease and stick my foot out, it catches the person and they go sprawling.

"Okay, stop." Master Maar says "Kat you may take the blindfold off now"

I take it off to see a young padawan on the floor looking rather annoyed.

"How did you do that?" he scowls.

"By thinking rather than just swinging wildly young padawan, it appears you still have much to learn." Master Maar tells him cheerfully. The boy exits hurriedly and Master Maar turns to me with a large smile on her face.

"That was very impressive," she tells me "a lot of people can pass this trial but few do it with as much style as you do." I bow in thanks, trying to stay modest but I can't help the smile that is spreading across my face.

"Are there any tips that you can give me for the final challenge master?"

"I'm afraid not, even I don't know what the trial will be about. It changes every time. All I can tell you for certain is that it will test whether or not you are capable of meeting the standards of the Jedi. Beyond that, they could ask you to do anything."

I sigh and smile nervously at her. "I guess I'll just have to go and see what's in store for me then. Wish me luck." As I walk past her to leave she stops me momentarily.

"Just remember what I've taught you, do your best and you'll be just fine." She whispers in my ear before sending me off to face the third and final trial.

I'm nervous but I try not to let it show as I enter the room where the trial will take place. I'm surprised to see a table with three chairs around it in an otherwise empty room. Unsure of what I should do and not wanting to be too presumptuous I just stand in a corner and wait. After about ten minutes a jedi I don't recognise come in. She smiles at me and invites me to sit down.

"Hello Katja." she says to me, her voice quiet "First of all let me congratulate you for getting this far, and let me wish you the best of luck in this, your final trial."

"Thanks, but what is it exactly that I'm expected to do?"

"You are to be tested to see if you can perform as you are expected to, when met with the kind of challenge you might meet in your day to day life as a jedi. You are going to be presented with a shop owner and one of his clients; they are having a dispute which you must now settle."

Without another word she leaves, I would like to have been told a bit more about this 'dispute' that I'm supposed to deal with but I imagine that the absence of information is just another part of the test.

Almost as soon as the Jedi has left, the two I am to be dealing with enter. They are both male, one is human, the other is Devaronian. Almost immediately they both launch into telling me their stories. It is a little overwhelming. Eventually I manage to get them both to be quiet and sat down. I sit opposite and get them to one at a time tell me their side of the story.

The devaronian is the owner of a shop that sells second hand droids, it seems that the human bought an old Class 2 Maintenance droid but within a day the droid short-circuited and now he wants not only a new droid but his credits back as well. The devaronian argues that he sold the droid in good, working condition and whatever happened to it afterwards is none of his business.

To me it seems a fairly straight cut case. I decide that to try and keep things as fair as possible that the best way forward would be to give the human either the new droid or his credits back. I told them my decision and that the devaronian can choose which of them he gives.

Neither of them takes the idea well but the devaronian in particular gets quite angry. He slams his fists on the table, bears his sharp teeth at me and demands that I change my decision. I try to calm him down but he remains angry and I start to worry that he may get dangerous very soon.

I hold out my hand and use a Jedi Mind Trick to 'convince' him to accept my offer and return to the human his credits. The human, a little startled by the outburst immediately agrees. I send them out of the room and sigh heavily in relief. It didn't go perfectly but I think that I settled the issue as best I could with as little trouble as possible.

I am left in the room for what felt about an hour. Eventually the same jedi as before returns and sits down in a chair opposite me. Her face is impassive; I cannot tell if it's good or bad news.

"We have finished judging your performance in the trial and have come to a decision about your future here in the temple. You successfully completed the trial, and came to what we believe was a fair compromise." At this a grin spread across my face and I could feel my heart leap. Unfortunately this was short lived.

"However," the Jedi continued "you lost control of the situation and things nearly ended in violence. Not only that but you used the force to influence the way a perfectly innocent civilian thought. You violated his free will and such behaviour is completely unacceptable for a Jedi. I am sorry Katja but you have failed the trial. You cannot become a Padawan."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and let me know what you think, I welcome everyone's opinions. Thanks to everyone who reads for their continued support.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply.**

**A/N: Another chapter completed. I hope you all enjoy and big thanks to everyone who's read this far. You're continued support is what keeps me writing.**

Chapter 9

The word devastated is a bit of an understatement. At first the words don't fully sink in, I just sit there a gawk at the Jedi. She carries on talking so I force myself back to reality and pay attention to what is being said. I am being told what my options now are.

"You are not the first to ever fail the trials, and you will be pleased to know that there are alternatives that allow you to carry on aiding the Jedi Order and the galaxy it serves. You will be allowed to join one of the branches of the Jedi Service Corps."

"What's the Jedi Service Corps?" I ask

"Well, if you'd let me finish, I'll tell you." the jedi says with a hint of irritation. "A long standing part of the order they have been around since just after the Ruusan reformation. The corps are split into 4 main branches, the EduCorps, the MedCorps, the ExplorCorps and the AgriCorps. Because you failed the trials, the reassignment council will assign you one of the Corps. There's little sense in me explaining more about what the different Corps do. It's fairly self-explanatory, besides you have no say in which one you'll end up in."

Jedi, or no jedi, this woman's attitude was starting to get on my nerves, acting like she was better than me.

"Woah! Slow down a minute. What if I don't want to join the Corps? I've always wanted to become a Jedi Knight."

"Let's have none of that Katja." She tuts shaking her head "Whilst it is true that the work they do in the Corps is not as glamorous as what we Jedi have to do, it is no less important. They have helped billions of people across the galaxy and done a lot of good work for the Order."

That may very well be true but I am not about to sit here and listen to this woman condescend to me. I am about to defend myself when she silences me with a raised hand.

"Please don't argue with me about it girl, you really don't have much of a say in what happens next. As it stands, you have two choices ahead of you. As I mentioned earlier you could join the Service Corps,"

"Or?" I ask hesitantly, not sure I want to hear the answer.

"The only other option would be for you to leave the Jedi Order. You would be closely monitored to ensure you don't misuse what little power you do have, and you almost certainly won't be allowed off-world without the express permission of the Order."

It seems the more time I spend with this woman the more she irritates me. I have to get out of here soon, or my frustration may threaten to boil over. I don't like it but, as the Jedi said, I have no other option really. I have nowhere else to go; no credits and the only people in the universe I care about are here. I am far from happy but I decide to smile and try to make the best out of a bad situation.

"Thank you Master, I will humbly accept a position in the Jedi Service Corps and do my best to make the order proud." I bow gracefully but inside I'm seething, and it's only made worse by the smug smile plastered on the Jedi's face.

"I'm glad to see that you've finally seen sense Katja, I shall report your decision to the Reassignment Council and they should assign you a Corps within a standard week."

She stands to leave. I stay seated; I need to calm down before I go anywhere. She stops at the door and says to me before leaving.

"I truly am sorry you failed Katja, but I hope you find comfort in all the good that you are still able to do in the galaxy."

I leave the testing area and almost immediately run into Vaas. It turns out he's been waiting outside for me for almost half an hour, I didn't even realise that I had been in there for so long.

As soon as he sees me he sweeps me up in a hug. I smile and return the hug but it's a half-hearted attempt, I guess I'm not really in the mood. He notices my lack of enthusiasm and drops me to the ground, eyes filled with concern.

"Kat, are you okay? What happened?"

"I failed the trials," I say softly "I'm never going to become a jedi."

"Oh Kat, I am so sorry." Vaas exclaims, he tries putting a comforting arm around my shoulders but I shrug it off. He looks offended so I smile weakly and apologise.

"I'm sorry Vaas, it's nothing you've done, I just need some more time to calm down. That harpy of a jedi got me really riled up. So," I ask wanting to change the subject "I'm guessing from your excited greeting that your trials went well."

He shrugs not wanting to make a big deal about it. "I passed, I'll be taking part in the Apprentice Tournament in a couple a months and after that I will hopefully be assigned a master and I'll become a padawan."

"That's fantastic news Vaas, I'm very happy for you." I can hear the forced cheer in my voice, and I'm sure Vaas can hear it too. I truly am happy for him; I'm just not really in the mood to express it right now. Anyway, if he does hear anything in my voice he doesn't say, he simply accepts my congratulations.

After that we move onto other things, I don't really care what we talk about, as long as we avoid mentioning the Trials. Vaas seems to understand and purposefully steers the conversation away from them. For that I am very grateful, and for a while at least I can forget my worries and doubts about the future and simply enjoy spending some time with my best friend.

About 8 months have passed since I failed the trials and to be honest, it still hurts. But I have learnt to live with it and have more or less accepted that it just isn't my destiny to become a Jedi Knight.

It didn't take long for me to get given a Corps by the Reassignment Council. I wasn't massively surprised to discover that I was to become a member of the Educational Corps. Though I can't argue with the council's decision, I am not entirely pleased with it.

They, or more accurately we, are a group of scholars, teachers and archivists. Our main objective are to ensure that the history and teachings of the order are safely recorded in the Jedi Archives, and teach further generations about anything not involving force powers or combat. As I'm sure you can see it's not exactly the most exciting job in the world, and it's certainly far from the world-changing exploits I dreamed of having.

Master Komo was certainly pleased to see where I ended up and, much to her delight and despite my earlier denials it seem entirely possible now that I will end up replacing her a Chief Librarian.

Don't misunderstand though; it's not all bad being able to spend so much time in the Archives. I have a lot more time spare for study and research, and in 8 short months I almost certainly already know more than most of the Jedi I know, though it's still little when compared to the greatest masters of the Order.

The Apprentice Tournament came and went, a chance for Initiates who had successfully passed the Trials to show their combat skills and impress potential masters. As I predicted Vaas more than excelled in the Tournament and was almost immediately chosen by Master Raile Ray, one of the Orders most famous Jedi, to be his Padawan. I've not seen or heard from him since he left a few months back, but I imagine he's off in some exotic corner of the universe getting to live out my dreams of being a Jedi.

Okay, so I'm a little jealous, but can you blame me? I'm stuck here whilst he goes gallivanting across the stars.

Anyway one day I'm working in the Library, doing some research on the Burra fish from the planet Dathomir when a shadow falls across the datapad I'm studying.

"Excuse me. I'm wondering if you can help me." A voice asks. I don't look up and respond distractedly.

"Yes, what do you need?"

"Well I'm looking for some information on an old friend of mine; I was told that I might be able to find some information here."

"If you enter their name in the terminal over there," I indicate with a nod "the computer will give you what information we have on them." The stranger responds with a chuckle.

"Wow, you really can be quite dim at times can't you Kat?" Recognition finally dawns on me and I look up excitedly to see Falcon Fox standing in front of me, a smile on his face and his hands on his hips. I practically leap over the desk I'm sat at and launch myself at him. He gives me a quick hug before dropping me to the floor.

"It's wonderful to see you Falcon." I cry. It has been over a year since he last visited, and even then it was only briefly.

"You're not wrong kid, it's been too long." he pauses before adding "I heard about the Trials. I'm really sorry Kat, you deserve better than being stuck here. "

I shrug as if it's no big deal

"Yeah it sucks, but there's not really much I can do so there's no point getting all bent out of shape about it." Falcon studies me carefully before laughing and ruffling my hair.

"You're wise beyond your years Katja. You keep a sensible head like that and it'll do wonders for you later in life." I blush slightly at the compliment and mutter thanks.

Falcon looks around the library with a distinctly unimpressed look. "This place is boring; I don't know how you manage to spend so much time in here. Hey, I've had a great idea! I've got the afternoon free, why don't we go have some fun? Explore the streets of Coruscant. My treat."

I don't have to consider his offer for long. Since Vaas left, I haven't really had anyone to talk to, plus despite having lived here for so long I had still not really left the temple and seen anything of Coruscant, I had been far too busy. With great enthusiasm I accept his offer.

Less than half an hour later after Falcon had borrowed a speeder from Aria, we are on our way to the Uscru Entertainment District. Falcon had tried getting Aria to come with us but she had too much work to do.

After spending so much time cooped up inside the temple I have to admit, it's a relief to be able to wind down for once and just enjoy the sights and smells of Coruscant. True it might not be the most beautiful place in the universe but after the sterile, boring corridors of the Jedi Temple it seems wonderful.

Falcon parks the speeder at a small restaurant, hidden away from the large crowds. He orders us, two nerf burgers. They're delicious, but very greasy. I don't think I've eaten something so gratuitously unhealthy.

After eating we wander the streets aimlessly, not really having a destination in mind, we just talk, catch up and generally enjoy ourselves. To be honest I haven't felt so relaxed in years.

"So, what have you been up to all this time?" I ask as we casually walk.

"Nothing too exciting. Settling the odd trade dispute, protecting a prince of Alderaan, the usual stuff."

"Sounds exciting to me." I respond

"Nahh, I barely got to even use my lightsaber. How rubbish is that?" He laughs. I join him but my laughter is cut short by someone barging past me, almost knocking me to the ground. Fortunately, Falcon reacted with lightning speed and steadied me before I could fall.

"What is their problem?" I growl angrily rubbing the shoulder where I was hit.

"I'm not sure Kat. But come to think of it, the place does seem more crowded than normal. I wonder what's going on."

"I have a feeling that's our answer" I say pointing. What had caught my eye was a large advertisement for what appeared to be a travelling zoo. The holographic image showed various exotic animals: banthers, acklays and more.

"I think you might be right. Wanna go?"

"Really? I'd love to!" I squeal. I had read about all sorts of creatures in the library but I had never had the chance to see them in real life.

With much excitement and anticipation on my part, we made our way to the circus. Falcon paid for tickets, the cost seemed an extortionate amount of credits to me but he quite happily produced it.

We hadn't been there for long when things started to go wrong. I guess I shouldn't be surprised any more, getting into trouble seems to be my lot in life. We are looking at an exhibition of mynocks when we hear screams emanating from the other side of the zoo. Sensing danger we head quickly to the source of the screams to see if we can be of help.

It's hard work pushing through the crowd racing in the opposite direction but eventually we make it through and discover what had happened. It appears that somehow, the Rancor, the circus' prized exhibit had broken through the security fence keeping it in its enclosure. The large carnivorous reptomammal roars loudly at the two small humanoids that are currently trying to contain it; a pale skinned female human and a squat sullustan which I think is male.

Before either of us can do anything the creature slams its arm into the woman who gets sent flying into a nearby wall. She tries to stand but her arms give way and she falls to the floor. The rancor then turns to the sullstan who backs away in fear. He attempts to run but the rancor with ease, reaches out a long arm and snatches him up. It swallows him whole and roars again.

Falcon, his lightsaber ignited and ready for combat enters the fray. He motions for me to stay put. He is just about to reach the rancor when the woman shouts something at him. I can't hear the words but it distracts Falcon and his head turns towards her. The rancor seizes the opportunity and makes a swipe at Falcon. He senses the blow coming his way and leaps to the side. Unfortunately he doesn't quite make it and the rancor's hand just catches Falcon in the side of the head. He collapses to the ground in a heap.

The rancor reaches for Falcon, no doubt planning to have him join the sullustan, but I'm not having any of that. I may not have a weapon but I'm not entirely defenceless. Running forwards I extend a hand and use the force to push Falcons prone body out of the way, it slides a few meters coming to rest against a wall.

Annoyed by the sudden disappearance of its meal the rancor slams its fists into the ground causing it to shake. Without breaking stride a bend and pick up a rock and hurl it at the creature. The rock bounces of the rancor's head; it can't have hurt it much but it certainly got its attention. It faces me and I can sense it considering whether or not I'm worth its time.

Fortunately it decides I am and starts advancing on me. It extends a clawed, leathery hand towards me. I take a deep breath and just before the hand reaches me I leap into the air. Using the force to guide myself I land on the rancor's wrist. The rancor doesn't seem too impressed by its meal's sudden acrobatics.

I start running up its arm, doing my best not to fall. It brings its other hand to try and crush me. It no longer appears to consider me as food, but now just wants to squash me like I would squash an irritating fly. I leap again to avoid its hand a land on its upper arm. Grabbing onto its shoulder I heave with all my strength and propel myself up, landing neatly on the rancor's head.

This was exactly where I wanted to end up. You see, spending all that time in the Archives wasn't completely wasted. I've spent a lot of time studying all different types of flora and fauna that dwell in the universe. One such creature that I have studied is in fact the rancor. Just the other month I read an interesting report that someone had made on the Witches of Dathomir.

They are a group of force-sensitive woman who live on the planet Dathomir. This report mentioned that the witches had managed to domesticate the rancors that were native to their planet. They even used the creatures as mounts, riding them into battle. My hope is that I am able to emulate what the witches did.

Closing my eyes, I place my hands on the rancors head and try to channel my thoughts into its head.

"_You don't want to do this." _I told it. "_You are not going to rampage." _I could sense intelligence in the creature that I had not expected and it seemed to be responding to my commands. As I continued its movements began to become more sluggish, its ferocity diminished.

"_You are very tired after causing all this chaos. Rest now, rest, rest… rest…" _ I repeated the command until thankfully the rancor slumped to the ground, fast asleep. I jumped off just before it hit the ground, rolled to brake my fall and came to my feet. My heart was racing, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I don't think I've ever felt so exhilarated in my life.

I run to Falcon to see if he's okay. He's a bit bruised and battered but he's conscious and seems to be relatively uninjured. As I help to his feet the woman, who's mostly recovered by this point, runs over to us a smile on her face.

"That was incredible!" she cries as she reaches us. "I didn't think anyone but a Witch of Dathomir could tame a rancor." I shrug as if it's no big deal

"I had read about the witches actually, that's how I knew it could be done. Other than that I guess it was just instinct really."

"I had no idea that my people were known to the galaxy at large" the woman says.

"They're not really, a Jedi made an expedition to Dathomir a few hundred years ago. They compiled a report on your people. Other than that the witches are relatively unheard of. Wait a minute, are you telling me that you're a witch?"

"I don't really tell anyone but yes," she nods "I left the planet on a passing merchant ship when I was young. The only things I took with me were the clothes upon my back and Princess over there," She indicates in the direction of the rancor. "it was not easy convincing the ship's captain to bring her with me I kid you not."

"Princess?" I say with a raised eyebrow. She blushes and looks to the ground.

"I named her when I was young ok? My name's Jemilla by the way, Jemilla Saretti" she extends a hand. I shake it warmly

"Kat. It's be nice to meet you, considering the circumstances." I laugh. We continue to chat for a bit longer whilst I wait for Falcon to recover. It's fascinating learning about her life. Living with a travelling zoo you get to see a whole lot.

When Falcon finally feels able to stand unaided, I sadly have to say goodbye to Jemilla.

"If you're ever in the same area as the zoo be sure to look me up," she says giving me a quick hug. "and if you get sick of being a jedi you'd make one hell of a rancor tamer."

Falcon and I head back to the temple; we'd had more than enough excitement for one day. He marvels about what I did all the way and whilst I pretended to be modest, I have to admit I do feel pretty proud.

Once back at the temple we go our separate ways. Falcon says that he has to go give a report to the council, but promises that we'll meet again soon. I go back to my chambers and within second I'm fast asleep.

A couple of days later I receive a message from the Jedi Council, they request my presence urgently. Feeling a mixture worry and excitement, I ensure I look presentable and hastily make my way to the council chambers.

I'm not left waiting for long and with my heart in my mouth I enter the circular room filled with the stern looking council members. I am surprised to also see Falcon there, I try to see if his face gives anything away about why I'm here but it's impassive.

"Katja Dilana," Grand Master Shan gets my attention. "I'm sure you are wondering why you have been called here today." I nod but I don't trust my voice enough to say anything.

"Master Falcon has brought our attention to an incident that occurred two days ago involving you and a rancor. He tells me that you single handedly, without any weapon, managed to bring the rancor down. All without killing the creature or letting it harm anyone else." The stern face of the Grand Master suddenly breaks, to my great surprise, into a rare smile.

"This is an impressive enough feat for even a senior Jedi Knight, for you it's nothing short of miraculous. After careful consideration, due to the wisdom, skills , and awareness of your surroundings that you have shown, we have decided to rescind the previous decision regarding the Initiate Trials. You may now become a Jedi Padawan."

I feel excitement bubbling up within me and I have to resist the urge to jump up and down.

"That's not all," Master Roc adds "Master Fox has graciously offered to be your master. Despite his youth and inexperience," at this Falcon scowls slightly, that makes me grin. "due to the unusual circumstances we have decided to allow it. If you want to be his padawan, that is."

"Don't be foolish, I course I…" I stop remembering who I'm talking to and attempt to calm myself down. "I mean, thank you for the kind offer. I humbly accept and hope that I can live up to your expectations."

"It's settled then." says Master Shan "Katja Dilana, we are proud to officially make you a Jedi Padawan, may you serve the Order well."

Falcon and I leave together. I manage to wait until the door to the council chamber shuts before throwing myself at Falcon and hugging him tightly. He hugs back but when I pull away he looks at me sternly.

"If I'm going to be your master then things are going to have to change." He says seriously. "I'm you're superior now and you must treat me with the proper respect."

I turn to walk away, a little bit saddened by his sudden cold behaviour, but am suddenly shocked when I feel a foot connect sharply with my buttocks. I jump and turn to see falcon grinning at me.

"Oh come on! You didn't think I was serious did you?"


End file.
